Association between physical activity and risk of depression among elderly

ABSTRACT ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND RISK OF DEPRESSION AMONG ELDERLY Introduction and Aim Senility is not an illness, but an inevitable physiological process. The changes that take place in aging body and brain cause the gradual reduction of productivity and lowers the ability to catch up daily flow of information. One of the most important factors that protects the person both from mental and physical diseases is a regular physical activity. According to the statistics, 6% of the deaths in the world are caused by physical inactivity and its risk factors are believed to take the fourth place among all. As a result, staying physically active may help not only to keep mental and physical capacity in a good state, but also to lower the possibility of having a long list of health problems such as heart failure, respiratory insufficiency, obesity, diabetes, (breast, kolon) cancer, bones diseases (osteoporosis, osteoarthritis), anxiety, depression etc. The aim of our research work is to define the relationship between the amount of physical activity and depression risks of those, aged 65 and over. Material and Methods Our research is single-centered and cross-sectional. It is based on the survey (questionnaire type) conducted among patients aged 65 and over that had applied to the policlinic of Adnan Menderes University in the period of 20 April 2017 and 20 July 2017. We evaluated the risks of getting vulnerable to depression according to the level of physical activity and by taking into account sociodemographic characteristics. For evaluation of physical activity of individuals, we used the short form of The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ); for detection of depression risks, we used Yesavage Geriatric Depression Scale. The sociodemographic characteristics are also taken for our study. After collecting the data, the analysis and statistics part of the research was made with the use of SPSS Program. 37 Results In total, 320 of elderly people were questioned. The average age among them was 69,8±5,1 (65-86) years old. 160 of them were male (50%) and the rest 160 were female (50%). It turns out that 78,8% (s=252) of participants had at least one chronic physical illness. Conforming to the scale of the physical activity, it is seen that 43,4% (s=139) of participants are physically inactive, 35,9% (s=115) of them are averagely active and only 20,6% (s=66) of the elderly are considered as physically active. The Geriatric Depression Scale showed us that while 24,4% (s=78) of participants were exposed to getting depressed, the remaining 75,6% (s=242) did not have the depression risk. It was revealed that there is significant connection between physical inactivity and depression risks (x²=25.221, p=0.000). Being physically inactive may trigger depression 3,7 times faster; low income increases the vulnerability towards depression by 3,6 times and moral support from children helps to decrease it by 3,5. Conclusion We found out that the depression risk among elder population reaches 24%. And it is seen that there is a connection between physical inactivity and depression. At the same time, we figured that the number of physically inactive elderly is 43%. We believe that encouragement of physical activity by all generations not only helps to support our health, but provide mental support as well. In conclusion, we believe that the physical activity can visibly contribute to the stability of mental state. Keywords: elderly, IPAQ, depression, geriatric depression scale