Poster Presentation
Wednesday, 19 July 2006
9:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Wednesday, 19 July 2006
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM
This presentation is part of : Poster Presentations I
Gender Differences in Depression Among Older Adults Living Alone in Taiwan
Pao-Chen Lin, MS, RN, Department of Nursing, Chung Hwa College of Medical Technology, Taiwan, Tainan, Taiwan and Hsiu-Hung Wang, PhD, RN, College of Nursing, Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Learning Objective #1: understand the gender differences in the prevalence of depression among older adults living alone in Taiwan.
Learning Objective #2: identify the predictors of depession in women and men of living alone elders in Taiwan.
Background: The prevalence of depression in the elderly and the associated risk factors may differ by gender. For example, predominantly women have subsyndromal or minor depression. It is important to identify the factors that may present intense psychological challenges to elders who live alone, some of which may be related to gender. Aims: To explore the gender differences in the prevalence of depression and the related factors, which may best predict depression among older adults living alone in Taiwan.

Methods: A total of 192 men and women aged 65 or older and living alone were interviewed in southern Taiwan. The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was adopted to assess depression in the participants. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine the predictors of depression in the women and men. Results: Overall, 62.5% of the participants were classified as depressed (CES-D>=16). Women had a 1.6 times greater prevalence of depression than men (73.5% vs. 45.3%). However, women who were older (OR=1.130, 95%CI=1.000, 1.275), had poorer self-rated health status (OR=0.487, 95%CI=0.239, 0.991), had less social support (OR=0.868,95%CI=0.788, 0.956) had a significantly higher rate of depression. Marital status [e.g. widowed versus others OR 7.186 (1.074-48.088)], religiosity [e.g. had religiosity versus had no religiosity OR 0.02 (0.002-0.213)], chronic illness [e.g. many chronic illnesses OR 1.579 (1.028–2.426)], and self-rated health status [e.g. better self-rated health status OR 0.158 (0.048–0.524)] were predictors of depression in men.

Conclusions: Our study suggests that women who live alone suffer from more depressive symptoms than men do in Taiwan. Moreover, there are important gender differences in the predictors of depression. Health providers should reflect on these differences when planning mental health services and interventions.

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