Quality of life and depression among elderly retirement home residents of Yerevan, Armenia: a comparative survey of retirement home residents and household respondents aged 65 year old and over

Abstract

Background: The elderly population is at highest risk for increased use of both acute and long-term health care services, and researchers have been increasingly interested in identifying health related problems associated with aging, particularly the quality of life (QoL). The goal of this study was to determine whether the depression was associated with QoL of the elderly population of Yerevan. Objectives were (1) To assess the QoL of the elderly in retirement homes (RH) and elderly living in household (HH), and determine the differences; (2) To estimate depression rate among elderly of RH and elderly living in HH; and (3) To determine how depression influences the QoL. Methods: Study design constituted an analytical cross-sectional survey with group comparison. The study population included elderly people living in RH (study group) and HH (comparison group). Study participants were selected through simple random sampling: 104 from RH and 101 from HH. Study instruments were Short Form (SF)-36 and Geriatric Depression Scale GDS). Each respondent was provided with verbal disclosure statement. Results: Despite the cross-sectional study design that was chosen due to time constraints, the results of the study were highly significant. The prevalence of depression in the RH group was 76.0 % vs. 81.2% in HH. The mean of mental component summary score (MCS) was 34.09 for HH group vs. 45.26 for RH group (p=0.000). The mean of physical component summary scores (PCS) was 42.67 for HH group vs. 39.34 for RH group (p=0.003). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that depression was negatively associated with PCS and MCS score of the QoL after adjusting for place of living and gender. Conclusion: The study confirmed the significant association between the QoL components of elderly people and depression. Longitudinal assessment would be able to better describe the dynamics of the relationship between depression and QoL.