Depression among elderly persons in a primary health centre area in Ahmednagar, Maharastra.

Elderly people are prone to psychiatric disorders through vicissitudes such as social isolation, malnutrition, economic and emotional depression. A cross sectional study was conducted in a Primary Health Centre Area in Ahmednagar district of Maharastra during 2003-2005 to assess prevalence of depression among elderly persons & to study social factors influencing depression. Goldberg and Bridges' scale was used to diagnose depression among 494 randomly selected study subjects. 31.4% of elderly persons were having depression. It was more commori among females (37.4%), illiterates (37.9%), class V socioeconomic status (55.8%), divorced & unmarried.