Evaluation of the relationship between frailty, depression, polypharmacy, and sociodemographic factors in elderly patients

Introduction and Objective: This study aims to evaluate the relationship between fragility levels, depression, polypharmacy, and sociodemographic factors in elderly individuals who visited the Internal Medicine and Geriatrics Clinic of Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine. Materials and Methods: The study included a total of 187 patients aged 65 and above who visited the Internal Medicine and Geriatrics Clinic of Akdeniz University Hospital. Participants were administered the Edmonton Frailty Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, and a sociodemographic information form. Results: The average age of the patients was found to be 72.01 ± 6.67. The majority of the patients live in urban areas (89.3%). 93% of the patients were married, and 7% were widowed. Approximately 25.7% of the patients were elementary school graduates. 15.5% of the patients were smokers, and 13.4% reported alcohol use. 42.4% of the patients were not frail, 34.2% were seemingly vulnerable, 15% were mildly frail, 5.9% were moderately frail, and 2.7% were severely frail. 35.3% of the patients had minimal depression, 8.6% had mild depression, 27.3% had moderate depression, and 28.9% had severe depression. 69.5% of the patients had comorbidities. Hypertension was the most common disease, affecting 52.4% of the patients. Among patients with severe depression, 63% had comorbidities. 25.9% of patients with severe depression were using multiple medications. Among the 79 participants in the "Not Frail" group, 44.3% (35) had minimal depression, 19.0% (15) had moderate depression, and 25.3% (20) had severe depression. Conclusion: Statistical analyses revealed that advanced age, female gender, low education level, polypharmacy, and chronic diseases were significantly positively associated with both frailty and depression. The data obtained show that frailty and depression are prevalent in the elderly population, and these two conditions are closely related to sociodemographic factors and polypharmacy. Therefore, it was concluded that the elderly population should be regularly screened for frailty and depression and managed through a multidisciplinary approach.