Depression of Community-Dwelling Elderly in Three Asian Countries : Myanmar, Indonesia, and Japan

Abstract

Health is vital for sustainable development, and obviously, there is no health without mental health. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of screening-based depression and the association of depression with activities of daily living (ADL) and quality of life (QOL) of community-dwelling elderly in the developing and developed countries. A total of 2529 community-dwelling elderly subjects aged 60 years or older living in five rural Asian towns (Myanmar 213, Indonesia: 411, Japan : 1905) participated in this cross-sectional study. Depressive symptoms were assessed using a 15-item geriatric depression scale (GDS-15). ADL, higher daily activities, and medical and social history were assessed by interviews or self-report questionnaires. For the assessment of subjective QOL, a 100 mm visual analogue scale was used. Using a cut-point of 5/6 for the GDS-15, 764 participants (30.2%) appeared to have depression (Myanmar 22.2% Indonesia: 33.8%, Japan: 30.3%). Subjects with depression had significantly lower scores for both ADL and QOL than those without depression in all the three countries. In all the three countries, 22.2–33.8% of community-dwelling elderly subjects had screening-based depression, which was commonly associated with both lower quantitative ADL and lower QOL.