Centre for Policy on Ageing



Gender differences in depressive symptoms among older people living in the community
Author(s)	Yvonne Wells, Barrie Stacey
Journal title	Australasian Journal on Ageing, vol 17, no 4, November 1998
Pages	pp 193-195
Keywords	Depression ; Older men ; Older women ; Living in the community ; Australia.
Annotation	The view that depressive symptoms are more common among older women than men were explored in this study. Data obtained from a study of 533 women and 467 men aged 65 years and over and living independently in Melbourne, Australia, were analysed to explore gender differences in depression. Results showed a low prevalence of depressive symptoms among both older men and women living in the community, with a slightly higher prevalence among women. However, women were twice as likely as men to report sufficient symptoms to be classified as depressed. This gender difference was not explained by age, but was fully accounted for by either Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) dependency or marital status. In turn, widows were more likely to be classified as depressed because they were more often lonely. (AKM).
Accession Number	CPA-990111406 A
Classmark	ENR: BC: BD: K4: 7YA
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.