Change in prevalence over time and factors associated with depression among Bangladeshi older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic

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Mistry, Sabuj K
Ali, Arm Mehrab
Yadav, Uday N
Huda, Md Nazmul
Khanam, Fouzia
Kundu, Satyajit
Khan, Jahidur R
Hossain, Md Belal
Anwar, Afsana
Ghimire, Saruna
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2023
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Abstract

Background: Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic seriously affected both physical and mental health conditions. This study aims to assess changes in the prevalence of depression among older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh and explore the correlates of depression in pooled data. Methods: This study followed a repeated cross-sectional design and was conducted through telephone interviews on two successive occasions during the COVID-19 pandemic (October 2020 and September 2021) among 2077 (1032 in 2020-survey and 1045 in 2021-survey) older Bangladeshi adults aged 60 years and above. Depression was measured using the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15). The binary logistic regression model was used to identify the factors associated with depression in pooled data. Results: A significant increase in the prevalence of depression was noted in the 2021 survey compared to the 2020 survey (47.2% versus 40.3%; adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.40, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.11–1.75). Depression was significantly higher among participants without a partner (aOR 1.92, 95% CI 1.45–2.53), with a monthly family income of <5000 BDT (aOR: 2.65, 95% CI 1.82–3.86) or 5000–10 000 BDT (aOR: 1.30, 95% CI 1.03–1.65), living alone (aOR 2.24, 95% CI 1.40–3.61), feeling isolated (aOR 3.15, 95% CI 2.49–3.98), with poor memory/concentration (aOR 2.02, 95% CI 1.58–2.57), with non-communicable chronic conditions (aOR 1.34, 95% CI 1.06–1.69), overwhelmed by COVID-19 (aOR 1.54, 95% CI 1.18–2.00), having difficulty earning (aOR 1.49, 95% CI 1.15–1.92) or obtaining food (aOR 1.56, 95% CI 1.17–2.09) during COVID-19 pandemic, communicating less frequently (aOR 1.35, 95% CI 1.07–1.70) and needing extra care (aOR 2.28, 95% CI 1.75–2.96) during the pandemic. Conclusions: Policymakers and public health practitioners should provide immediate mental health support initiatives for this vulnerable population during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Policymakers should also invest in creating safe places to practise mindful eating, exercise, or other refuelling activities as a means of preventing and managing depression.

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Psychogeriatrics

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23

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2

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© 2022 The Authors. Psychogeriatrics published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Psychogeriatric Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Mistry, SK; Ali, AM; Yadav, UN; Huda, MN; Khanam, F; Kundu, S; Khan, JR; Hossain, MB; Anwar, A; Ghimire, S, Change in prevalence over time and factors associated with depression among Bangladeshi older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic, Psychogeriatrics, 2023, 23 (2), pp. 230-242

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