Objective:To estimate the association between social support and depression in the Japanese elderly population aged 70 years and over
Design:A cross sectional study
Materials and Methods:We conducted Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) among the residents aged 70 years and over in Sendai city, Japan between July to August in 2002. Out of 2730 eligible subjects, 1179 participated in the interview survey. The participants were asked about the key persons regarding five categories of social supports (Muraoka.1996). Each category follows; 1) advisers needed in some troubles, 2) advisers needed when you get sick, 3) helpers taking care of your daily life, 4) helpers taking you to a hospital, 5) helpers taking care of you when you are sick in bed. The categories 1) and 2) indicate emotional support, and the categories 3), 4) and 5) indicate physical support, mainly. Geriatric Depression Scale (30) was used to estimate depressive status. Within 1170 (485 in male, 685 in female) answering GDS questionnaire, 24 subjects with cognitive dysfunction (MMSE<18 points) were excluded. Thus, we included 1146 (480 in male, 666 in female) for the analysis. They were divided into two groups by GDS score, one is GDS³11 points(depressive group), the other is GDS£10 points(non-depressive group). We calculated odds ratios (95% CIs) of social support for depressive status, using logistic regression in SAS program in which potential confounders were simultaneous adjusted for.
Results:The depressive group contains 130 in male (27.1%), 256 in female (38.4%). Multivariate odds ratios (95% CIs) were 1) 2.7(1.7-4.4), 2) 2.0(1.2-3.5), 3) 2.9(1.8-4.7), 4) 2.1(1.2-3.5), 5) 3.0(1.7-5.3)in male, respectively. The significant associations were observed in all categories. In female, multivariate odds ratios were 1) 1.2(0.8-1.8), 2) 1.1(0.8-1.7), 3) 1.4(1.0-2.0), 4) 1.5(1.0-2.2), 5) 2.0(1.4-2.8),respectively. The significant associations were observed in the categories 3), 4), and 5).
Conclusion:The significant association was found between the lack of social support and depression in the Japanese elderly population aged 70 years and over in both sexes. We also found that the influence of social support was stronger in men.
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