Objective: To investigate the relationship between depression and family function in elderly patients with coronary heart disease.
Methods: 122 patients of 80 years old or above with coronary artery disease were invited to complete a questionnaire through face to face interview. The Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (17th edition) was used to assess depression status and the APGDR Questionnaire was used to assess family functions. One-way analysis of variance and logistic regression analysis were performed to test the association of family functions with depression.
Results: 60.7% of the respondents had depression and 56.6% had severe abnormal family functions. The respondents with good family functions, moderate abnormal family functions and severe abnormal family functions had a depression score of 9.08, 20.72 and 26.88 respectively. The prevalence of depression in the patients with severe abnormal family functions was 3.274 times of that of those with good family functions. The prevalence of depression was also influenced by residency and care models.
Conclusion: Depression is prevalent in elderly patients with coronary heart disease. It is associated with family functions.