The prevalence of depression in the old-old elderly residing in Maltese community nursing homes : a quantitative study

Abstract

Depression is a major mental health problem amongst the elderly in nursing homes. Another issue concerns its under diagnosis, with low mood simply being associated with old age and a decline in cognitive functioning. The current study explored the prevalence of depression using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-30) amongst 43 old-old individuals aged 90 years and over, residing in 4 different community nursing homes in Malta. The results of the study showed that just over half (51.2%) were mildly depressed, with mean scores of 10.81; just above the GDS cut-off point for depression. Females were found to score significantly higher than males. All participants had no cognitive impairment (measured using the MMSE). Correlation analysis revealed no significant relationship between GDS and MMSE scores indicating that depression can occur without cognitive impairment. The results of the study are discussed in light of the existing literature. Recommendations for the continued care of this cohort are proposed.