Association of Psychological Morbidity with Socio-Demographic Characteristics among Elderly: A Cross-Sectional Study from Eastern India

Background: The psychological morbidity of the geriatric people is very common. There are different socio-demographic factors affecting the psychological health of elderly, which have not been studied in detail in India. Objective: The present study was framed to fi nd out the association of different socio-demographic factors with the psychological morbidity of the elderly. Materials and Methods: It was a community-based cross-sectional study conducted in Municipal area of Tarakeswar, Hooghly District, West Bengal, India among the geriatric people using a pre-designed, pre-tested, semi-structured schedule to collect the socio-demographic data. General Health Questionnaire-28 was used to collect data regarding psychological morbidity. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 16.0. Results: It was revealed that only 29.4% of the respondents scored within normal range. Multiple linear regression taking total as well as domain-wise scoring as dependent variable revealed that increasing age, female sex, illiteracy, fi nancial dependency on other family members, not living with spouse, and poor socio-economic status are signifi cantly associated with psychological morbidity. Conclusion: Overall mental health condition of geriatric people is not good. Proper rehabilitation measures have to be taken by family members, society, and government like engaging them in light activities of their interest, old age pension scheme or forming self-help group among elderly, which would result in making them happy.