TY - JOUR
T1 - Urban environment, physical inactivity and unhealthy dietary habits correlate to depression among elderly living in eastern mediterranean islands
T2 - The MEDIS (Mediterranean Islands Elderly) study
AU - Mamplekou, E.
AU - Bountziouka, V.
AU - Psaltopoulou, T.
AU - Zeimbekis, A.
AU - Tsakoundakis, N.
AU - Papaerakleous, N.
AU - Gotsis, E.
AU - Metallinos, G.
AU - Pounis, G.
AU - Polychronopoulos, E.
AU - Lionis, C.
AU - Panagiotakos, Demosthenes
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - Aims: To evaluate factors associated with depression in elderly. Methods: During 2005-2007, 553 men and 637 women (aged 65 to 100 yrs) living in various Greek islands and in Cyprus participated in the study. The sampling was random and multistage (according to age-sex distribution of the referent population). Depressive symptoms were evaluated using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Results: Twenty five per cent of men and 35% of women were classified in the highest GDS category (i.e. GDS score > 10), indicating intense depressive symptoms, while 54% of men and 70% of women scored above the depression cut-off (i.e. GDS score > 5) indicating mild-to-severe depressive symptoms. Among the investigated characteristics, living in urban environment, physical inactivity and history of hypertension were correlated with the presence of depressive symptoms (p<0.05), after adjusting for various confounders. Moreover, the consumption of fish, vegetables and cereals is more prevalent among people with low or moderate depression (p<0.05). Conclusions: The prevalence of depression is quite high between elderly people living in Greek islands and Cyprus. Urban environment that may also interact with sedentarism and unhealthy dietary habits seems to promote depression in the studied population. Efforts to lower the prevalence of depression in the elderly should target on the aforementioned factors that employ functional impairment, social environment and dietary habits. The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging
AB - Aims: To evaluate factors associated with depression in elderly. Methods: During 2005-2007, 553 men and 637 women (aged 65 to 100 yrs) living in various Greek islands and in Cyprus participated in the study. The sampling was random and multistage (according to age-sex distribution of the referent population). Depressive symptoms were evaluated using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Results: Twenty five per cent of men and 35% of women were classified in the highest GDS category (i.e. GDS score > 10), indicating intense depressive symptoms, while 54% of men and 70% of women scored above the depression cut-off (i.e. GDS score > 5) indicating mild-to-severe depressive symptoms. Among the investigated characteristics, living in urban environment, physical inactivity and history of hypertension were correlated with the presence of depressive symptoms (p<0.05), after adjusting for various confounders. Moreover, the consumption of fish, vegetables and cereals is more prevalent among people with low or moderate depression (p<0.05). Conclusions: The prevalence of depression is quite high between elderly people living in Greek islands and Cyprus. Urban environment that may also interact with sedentarism and unhealthy dietary habits seems to promote depression in the studied population. Efforts to lower the prevalence of depression in the elderly should target on the aforementioned factors that employ functional impairment, social environment and dietary habits. The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging
KW - Depression
KW - Diet
KW - Elderly
KW - Epidemiology
KW - Fish
KW - Mental health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77954644946&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s12603-010-0091-0
DO - 10.1007/s12603-010-0091-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 20617287
AN - SCOPUS:77954644946
SN - 1279-7707
VL - 14
SP - 449
EP - 455
JO - Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging
JF - Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging
IS - 6
ER -