Depression among older adults: a systematic review ofSouth Asian countries

Abstract

The world's population has been evolving rapidly; every country in the world is facing this drastic progression in the number and the percentage of the elderly in their net population. As the chronological age advances, physiological and psychosocial decline will be evident among all older adults. The potentially relevant literature was identified using appropriate search terms in electronic databases such as PubMed MEDLINE, Scopus, ProQuest, Web of Science, CINAHL, IndMed, and Google Scholar. Articles published from 2006 to 2019, reported the prevalence and the risk factors for depression among older adults living in the community, old age homes, or hospitals of the South Asian countries. Articles were published in the languages other than English and those reporting the categorised or mean depressive scores were excluded from the review. After quality check for all the retrieved articles from different databases, 120 articles were included for the meta‐analysis. The data were extracted based on a validated data extraction form, and the reviewer contacted the authors for clarification of the missing data whenever required. The estimates were pooled using the random effect model for meta‐analyses. Sub‐group and sensitivity analyses were also performed. The overall pooled estimate (random effect models) of the prevalence of depression among the elderly was 42.0% (95% CI: 0.38–0.46), Chi‐squared P‐value <0.001, and I2 99.14%. The pooled estimate of the prevalence was higher in the community settings than the old age homes (44.0%; 95% CI: 39.0–49.0 vs. 42.0%; 95% CI: 34.0–49.0). Depression is a common problem among the elderly population and the pooled estimate of depression would give directions to the healthcare providers, policymakers, and future researchers to plan some measures (either pharmacological or non‐pharmacological interventions) to effectively tackle the burden of geriatric depression in the future.

Factors Associated with Depression and Anxiety in Adults ≥60 Years Old during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

“…Among the socio-demographic factors, the female gender is the most frequently associated with depression and anxiety [21,23,[27][28][29][30][31]. These findings are consistent with other reviews focused on the general population and healthcare workers during the pandemic [6,7] and more studies before COVID-19 [19,34,35]. Previous research suggests that this gender disparity may be mediated by variables that concern work, economic, educational, neuro-hormonal, psychological and genetic aspects [34,[36][37][38].…”

“…Physical and mental health have been previously associated with depression and anxiety [6,35,37]. In our review, the results regarding the factors related to physical health show some variability depending on the outcome.…”

“…By comparison, pre-pandemic studies analysing the relationship between age and mental health outcomes associate the presence of depression and anxiety with the advance in age, with a prevalence among the older population ranging between 3% and 15% for anxiety and up to 42% for depression [35,40]. A possible explanation for this difference may be that, in the context of COVID-19, multiple control measures involved social restrictions and reduction of working activity in many areas.…”

The Mediation Effect of Health Literacy on Social Support with Exchange and Depression in Community-Dwelling Middle-Aged and Older People in Taiwan

“…In this nationally representative study, with middle-aged and elderly community-resident participants, we found that the prevalence of depression in middle-aged and older people was 19.4%, which was lower than the prevalence reported in the previous study (35.2%) [ 44 ] and lower than those in India (41%) and South Asian countries (42%) [ 45 ]. However, it was higher than the world’s median of depression in an older population of 10.3% (interquartile range [IQR], 4.7–16.0%) [ 4 ], which in turn was higher than the 13% rate in the United States [ 46 ], 13.9% in Sri Lanka [ 13 ] and 18.5% in Thailand [ 47 ].…”

Predictors of Depression and Insomnia in Community-Dwelling Elderly People: A Cross-Sectional Evidence of Their Bidirectional Relationship

“…Depression is the most common mental health disorder in the elderly population and is associated with functional, cognitive, physical, and social impairments [2]. A recent meta-analysis of 120 studies, which were conducted in South Asian countries, revealed that the overall pooled prevalence of depression among the elderly was 42.0% [3]. A previous meta-analysis of 25 studies from Western countries (Europe and North America) found a prevalence of depressive symptoms among older adults living in the community at 19.5% [4].…”