Depression and its Risk Factors among Community-Dwelling Iranian Older Adults during the COVID-19 Outbreak

Aims The COVID-19 pandemic could be considered a significant public health crisis. This study aimed to assess the rate of depressive symptoms and its related risk factors among older adults during the COVID-19 outbreak. Instrument Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 older adults aged 60 and over in 2020 in Mashhad City, Iran. A random cluster sampling was done for selecting the older adults from 5 urban health care centers. The Persian version of the WHO-5 index was used. Data were analyzed by SPSS 20 using descriptive statistics, chi-square, and logistic regression tests. Findings The prevalence of moderate depressive symptoms was (33%). Although most of the participants had mild depressive symptoms (38.2%); Moreover, There was a significant relationship between depression with family structure (p 0.001) and underlying disease (p 0.001). Conclusion The rate of depressive symptoms among older adults is high. The policy-makers and health professionals need to provide psychological interventions to decrease the psychological damages caused by the outbreak crisis.