Influence of Geriatric Depression on Oral Health-related Quality of Life in the Urban Elderly Population: A Study from Southern Indian

Introduction: Depression causes a lot of Problems which leads to decreased quality of life and increased mortality in elderly. It is necessary to assess the relationship between geriatric depression and its impact on Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL). Aim: To determine the association between geriatric depression and OHRQoL in older adult southern Indian population. Materials and Methods: Two hundred and thirty subjects aged 60 years and older, attending outpatient department of SRM Dental College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India were recruited for the study. Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) -15 and Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) -14 was recorded. Decayed Missing Filled Teeth (DMFT) index was used to ascertain the dental treatment needs of subjects. Data were collected using self or interviewer-administered questionnaires. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. To compare proportions between GDS score groups Chi-Square test was applied. Uni variate and multi variate logistic regression analysis was done to estimate the Odds ratios of the factors associated with Geriatric depression. Results: The prevalence of depression according to GDS-15 was 56.5% (130) out of which 47.4% (109) were suffering from mild depression (GDS 5-9) and 9.1 % had severe depression (GDS 10-15). The oral health impact profile was significantly associated with depression (p<0.001). Socio-demographic characteristics like presence of systemic diseases (p=0.002), smoking and alcohol consumption (p<0.001), marital status (p=0.001), education (p=0.024), family circumstances (p=0.001) were also significantly associated with depression. Subjects with poor oral hygiene had odds ratio of 1.79 when correlated with GDS score >5. Conclusion: These present results indicate that there is a strong correlation between GDS and OHIP-14. The presence of geriatric depression affects the overall oral health related quality of life. Intervention programs of oral health promotion and routine screening for detecting early signs of depression are essential in urban elderly population.