Advances in Gerontology · 2025
Association between depression syndromе and functional disorders in elderly residents of the European North of Russia
By Galushin AN, Poskotinova LV, Krieger EA et al.
Depression syndrome is one of the most common syndromes among the elderly and is directly associated with functional independence and quality of life. This study aimed to investigate the association between the severity of depression syndrome and functional disorders among individuals aged 60 to 74 years. In 2023, a cross-sectional study was conducted on arandom-samplein Arkhangelsk (n=611). Participants were examined for depression syndrome using the Beck Depression Scale. Functional disorders were evaluated using hand dynamometry, the Short Physical Performance Battery, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, visual and hearing acuity tests. Zero-inflated negative binomial regression was used to analyze the associations between the severity of depression syndrome and functional disorders. After adjustment for age, education, marital status, financial difficulties, low physical activity, and all functional disorders, higher depression syndrome severity was associated with preasthenia gravis (an early stage of frailty) in both men and women and with hearing loss in women only. These findings underscore the importance of taking a gender-sensitive approach to screening for and preventing depression syndrome in older adults, especially those with complex age-related functional disorders.