| Keywords |
Depression; Elders; Urban area; Rural area |
| Abstract |
The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of depression and its risk factors between elders in urban and rural areas in Korea. A total of 8,754 of urban elders and 4,855 of rural elders from the 2008 Korean National Older Adults Life Survey were selected. Depression was more prevalent as urban elders was aged 70-79 than those aged 60-69; elders with lower education level; elders who lived with children or others, or being alone than elders with spouse; elders who received basic livelihood support; elders who didn't participate in regular social activity; elders with diseases; elders with impaired cognitive; elders who did not get good sleep; in elders performed physical activity less than 30 minutes in duration and 5 days per week in frequency; elders with moderate or high risk nutrition. Whereas rural elders were affected by female gender; BMI less than 18.5 otherwise risk factors of urban elders. Rural elders were not associated with education level and type of household. The finding of differences in risk factors of depression between elders in urban and rural areas is expected to promote the differentiated strategy for the elders at risk of depression according to residential areas in Korea. |