Cognitive Impairment and Depression among Residents at Elderly Care Home in Baghdad City

Abstract

Background: The elderly population is a large section in the general population and increasing in number due to the advancement of healthcare facilities, longevity versus fertility, declining fertility rates, and rising life expectancy. These people are faced with numerous physical, psychological, and social role changes that challenge their sense of self and capacity to live happily. Many people experience depression in old age, either as a result of living alone or due to a lack of close family ties, and others suffer from cognitive impairment. There is some preliminary evidence that life in old age homes is perceived by inmates as more supportive though the issue is not well studied. Aims: This research was designed to determine the prevalence of depression and cognitive impairment among residents of an elderly care home in Baghdad city and to find out the association of depression and cognitive impairment with some of the demographic data (gender, age, marital status, socioeconomic status, and education), Find out the association between Geriatric Depression Scale and Mini-Mental State Exam results. Methods: It is a cross-sectional study where a sample of 99 residents in the elderly care home in Baghdad who were over the age of 55 years were assessed by the mini-mental state exam (MMSE), a short form of geriatric depression scale (GDS) consisting of 15 questions, and a structural clinical interview of the tenth international classification and diagnosis (ICD10). The association of demographic, functional, and health-related characteristics which were firstly conducted with depression and cognitive impairment, were examined using multivariate logistic correlation and regression analyses. Results: Ninety-nine residents (55 males and 44 females) with ages ranging from fifty-eight to 80 years old. The mean age was 68 years. The study showed that the prevalence rate of cognitive impairment was 24.2% among dwellers of an elderly care home which is much more than expected. Residents with ages over 70 (p=0.021), being single now (p=0.012), and low socioeconomic status (p=0.002) were significantly associated with cognitive impairment, while gender and education had no significant association. The prevalence of depression was 43.4%. Being single (p=0.003) is strongly associated with depression, while there was no significant association with other studied variables. There was no statistically significant association between depression and cognitive impairment.Conclusion: The prevalence rates of depression and cognitive impairment were very high among care home dwellers in Baghdad. Age over 70 and being single with low socioeconomic status were found to be risk indicators for cognitive impairment, while only marital status as being single was a risk factor for depression. The mental health in old people is influenced by stresses on families, economic adversity, and physical problems. National programs should be developed in the community, and health centers focused on Finding and Treating depression and cognitive impairment among the elderly population; optimal physical treatment and special attention and focus on psychosocial factors must be major goals in developing care programs for this frail population.