Depressive Disorders and Religious Engagement in Very Old People

• Published in: Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine
• Main Authors: Strinnholm, Sofia, Gustafson, Yngve, Niklasson, Johan
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Umeå universitet, Geriatrik 2019
• Subjects: depression; aged; 80 and above; religion; salutogenesis; Geriatrics; Geriatrik; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-161864; https://doi.org/10.1177/2333721419846576

Objective: To examine associations between religious engagement and depressive disorders in very old people. Method: This cross-sectional study uses data from the Umea 85+/Gerontological Regional Database (GERDA) study. Every other 85-year-old, every 90-year-old, and everyone more than 95 years from eight municipalities in northern Sweden and Finland were invited: 1,014 persons accepted participation. Data were gathered using questionnaires and assessment scales during structured home visits. Results: The prevalence of depressive disorders was 35.8%. In a logistic regression model, several factors were adjusted for, such as demographic variables including social factors, diseases, and cognitive and physical functional level. A high level of self-reported religious engagement was independently associated with not having depressive disorders (odds ratio [OR] = 0.58, confidence interval [CI] = [0.38, 0.89]). After stratifying by gender, religious engagement was only significant for women (OR = 0.49, CI = [0.29, 0.82]). Discussion: There is an association between a high level of religious engagement and being free from diagnosis of depressive disorders among very old women.