Social Frailty and Depression Among Older Adults in Ghana: Insights from the WHO SAGE Surveys

Abstract

In this study, we examine the association between social frailty and depression among older adults in Ghana over time. We employed longitudinal data analysis to examine the association between social frailty, socioeconomic status and depression using data from the WHO-SAGE survey. Our descriptive and cross-tabulation analyses show that the prevalence of depression and social frailty among older adults decreased considerably in 2014/2015 compared to 2007/2008. The finding also reveals a huge reduction in social frailty among older adults in northern Ghana–the most deprived regions in Ghana–compared to those in southern Ghana. The multivariate panel data analysis reveals that depression was significantly associated with social isolation, financial needs, and physical needs. The findings suggest an over time decline in social frailty and depression among older adults, as well as, reduction in regional differences in social frailty and depression among older adults in Ghana.

Social frailty is independently associated with geriatric depression among older adults living in northern Japan: A cross‐sectional study of ORANGE registry

“…18 The Chen et al report has also suggested that, in longitudinal analyses between social frailty at baseline and depressive symptoms at 3-year follow-up, the presence of social frailty can be associated with increased risk of incidence of depressive symptoms (odds ratio, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.10-4.88). Furthermore, other studies have reported that geriatric depression is significantly associated with social isolation, financial needs and physical needs as defined by social frailty, 19 and mood assessed by the GDS-15 is significantly observed in the social frail group compared with the non-social frail and social prefrail, respectively. 20 Against our results of the multiple logistic regression model, Ye et al showed that an interaction effect between gender and household composition (living alone vs. living with others) was significantly highlighted in persons with social frailty.…”

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