J Res Notes | Volume 2, Issue 2 | Research Article | Open Access
Nie Y†, Xu H†* and Zhu T
Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, Central South University, China
†These authors contributed equally to this work
Objectives: To explore the risk factors for depressive and anxiety symptoms among the elderly in nursing homes in Hunan province, China. Design, Setting and
Participants: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the elderly in nursing homes in Hunan Province. Twenty-four nursing homes were selected by multistage cluster random sampling, and 817 elderly residents were investigated using a structured questionnaire. Main Outcome Measures: The main outcome measures included general information, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, social support, stressful life events and sleep quality. Multivariate binary logistic regression was preformed to explore the risk factors for depressive and anxiety symptoms among the elderly in nursing homes.
Results: The prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among the elderly in nursing homes in Hunan province was 36% and 14.2% respectively. Living in a rural area (OR=1.87, 95% CI: 1.22, 2.86), lower monthly income (OR=2.00, 95% CI: 1.30, 3.01), infrequent visits from relatives (OR=3.14, 95% CI: 2.10, 4.78), alcohol consumption (OR=2.25, 95% CI: 1.24, 4.07), history of fall (OR=1.69, 95% CI: 1.15, 2.48), lower social support (OR=3.80, 95% CI: 2.63, 5.51) and poor sleep quality (OR=4.08, 95% CI: 2.63, 6.32) increased the risk of depressive symptoms; Lower monthly income (OR=3.56, 95% CI: 1.71, 7.42), longer duration of nursing home residency (OR=1.75, 95% CI: 1.10, 2.79), infrequent visits from relatives (OR=3.79, 95% CI: 2.34, 6.14), smoking (OR=1.82, 95% CI: 1.05, 3.15), stressful life events (OR=5.52, 95% CI: 1.27, 23.96) and poor sleep quality (OR=8.57, 95% CI: 3.62, 20.26) increased the risk of anxiety symptoms.
Conclusion: The prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among the elderly in nursing homes is relatively high. Lower monthly income, infrequent visits from relatives and poor sleep quality were risk factors for the development of both depressive and anxiety symptoms. Strengths and Limitations of this Study: This is the first study to examine the risk factors for both depressive and anxiety symptoms among the elderly in nursing homes in Hunan province. The study provides valuable information on depressive and anxiety symptoms among the elderly in nursing homes, and the findings may be helpful for preventing depressive and anxiety disorders. The study is limited by its cross-sectional study design and the use of self-reported data.
Depressive symptoms; Anxiety symptoms; Elderly; Nursing home; Prevalence; Risk factors
Nie Y, Xu H, Zhu T. A Cross-Sectional Study of the Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms among the Elderly in Nursing Homes in Hunan Province, China. J Res Notes. 2019; 2(2): 1013.