Turkish Journal of
GERIATRICS

Çukurova Ãœniversitesi., Tıp Fakültesi, Halk SaÄŸlığı Anabilim Dalı, Balcalı, Adana Elder population constitutes every day larger portion of the community thanks to the development in health area and the improvement of social conditions with a resulting increase in the number of different health problems like dementia and depression. Depression is defined as a syndrome developing in the form of slowing physiological activities such as thinking, speaking and motion; in addition to thoughts or feelings like insufficiency, humiliation and loss of self-esteem in a profound sensation of sadness. Depression is more frequently reported among residential home elders in comparison to elderly living at their own houses. Residential homes are important places for elders due to economic or social reasons and due to the replacement of large families by nuclear families. This descriptive study compromising 88 elders with a mean age of 74.6±6.3 years, living in residential homes in Adana (Turkey), aimed to determine the depression frequency and to reveal related demographic, sociocultural and economic properties using “Geriatric Depression Scale”. The statistical analyses were performed by t-test and logistic regression. The depression frequency was found to be 26.1%, with 21.4% and 34.4% among men and women, respectively. The elders with no hobby, those not visiting or being visited by relatives or friends were found to be more prone to depression. Physical comfort, social security, chronic diseases, marital status, time spent in the residential home were not found to affect the occurrence of depression among elders living in the residential homes Keywords : Residential home, Elder, Depression, Geriatric depression scale