A Study on Changes in Prevalence of Depression Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic

<p>The purpose of this study was to identify changes in prevalence of depression and related factors among community-dwelling older adults during COVID-19 pandemic. A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted five times from November 2020 to December 2022 among registered members of the Silver Human Resource Center in city A, Osaka Prefecture. The survey included basic attributes, one’s subjective sense of health, the technology agency index of competence (JST), depression, and living conditions. Depression was assessed using the 15-item Japanese version of the Geriatric Depression Scale, A score of 5 or more indicated depression. The 170 participants who responded to all five surveys were included in the analysis. Analyses were conducted using a logistic model to adjust for multifactorial effects, and odds ratios (ORs) for the presence or absence of depression were calculated. The percentage of people with depression in the five surveys ranged from 27.1% to 32.9%. Further, depression was associated with an awareness of the economic situation and JST in the four surveys.</p><p>Concern about the economic situation elevated the OR for depression (OR＝2.18-4.47), whereas the OR decreased with elevation in the JST elevation (OR＝0.12-0.37). Life changes due to COVID-19 were confirmed at the baseline and fourth follow-up surveys. At baseline, a perceived decreased frequency for going out (OR＝2.48) and decreased motivation to go out (OR＝4.65) indicated a higher OR for depression. At the fourth follow-up, changes in the way participants interacted with people (OR＝3.38) and difficulties in life (OR＝5.99) had a higher OR for depression, while those with a job (OR＝0.22) had a lower OR for depression. Depression associated with COVID-19 infections may change from time to time, and support needs to be tailored to social and individual situations.</p>