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A cross-sectional study was conducted among 627 elderly individuals of 60 years and above in the rural area of Udupi taluk. The objectives were to determine the prevalence of depression and to study the correlates of depression among the elderly. In this study, the prevalence of depression among the elderly population was determined to be 21.7%. The prevalence in the age group of 80 years and above and those individuals who had a history of death in the family within the last six months were found to be 34.4% and 52.4% respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that these two correlates were independently associated with depressive disorders in elderly population.

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Dr. Ankur Barua had done MD in Community Medicine (2003) from Manipal University and is working as Associate Professor of Community Medicine at Melaka-Manipal Medical College in Malaysia. He had also completed MBAIT (2007) from the Sikkim Manipal University of Health, Medical and Technological Sciences and Master of Buddhist Studies from the University of Hong Kong (2009).

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