Turkish Journal of Geriatrics 2006 , Vol 9, Issue 3
EVALUATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN QUALITY OF LIFE AND DEPRESSION IN THE ELDERLY WOMEN WHO ATTENDED TO A CLINIC OF A UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
Ege Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Fiziksel Tıp ve Rehabilitasyon Anabilim Dalı, İZMİR Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the association between a frequently used depressive scale and quality of life questionaire among elderly women who attended to a clinic of a university hospital.

Materials and methods: Forty-two voluntary women (mean age 68.9±7.8 years) participated for this study. The data were obtained by face-to-face interviews. The questionnaire covered socio-demographic characteristics, administration of the geriatric depression scale (GDS) and the short form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire instrument. Modify Physical Performance Test (MPPT) was performed for each subject.

Results: Using the GDS, 11 subjects (25%) were diagnosed with depression. The positive correlation relationship was observed between GDS scores and age. There was no correlation between GDS and job, marital status, education level, living alone, unfreshing sleep, sleep time, MPPT. There was found negative correlation relationship between GDS and SF-36 subgroup scores.

Conclusion: The frequently used SF-36 subgroups have strong association with the GDS scores. We conclude that SF-36 and GDS are suitable instruments to use together for screening depression and quality of life in the elderly women. Keywords : Elderly, Short form-36, Geriatric depression scale