The Relationship between Frailty and Functionality with Late-life Depression of Community-dwelling Elderly

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between frailty and functionality with late-life depression (LLD) in elderly people. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted on participants who were community-dwelling, aged 65 and over, followed by the Family Health Center, without cognitive impairment. General questionnaire form, standardized mini-mental state examination, Tilburg frailty indicator (TFI), Katz index of independence in activities of daily living (ADL) and Lawton instrumental ADL (IADL), and geriatric depression scale (GDS-30) were applied. Results: A total of 150 participants, and the median age of the participants was 71.0 (65.0–93.0) years. LLD was detected in 51 (34.0%) of the participants and the frequency of frailty was 60 (40.0%) of the participants. While 39 (76.5%) of the participants with LLD were fragile, 21 (21.2%) of the participants without LLD were fragile (p<0.001). The GDS-30 score was negatively correlated with Katz ADL and IADL scores and positively correlated with the TFI score (r=−0.269 and p=0.001; r=−0.266 and p=0.001; and r=0.735 and p=0.001, respectively). Conclusion: While the frequency of frailty is high in participants with LLD, a similar relationship with functionality was not observed.