Dr. Darakhshan Saiyadain is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Medicine at SGT University, Gurugram, and an MD Community Medicine Gold Medalist. She has experience in medical education, public health, community-based research, geriatric health, health promotion, and public-health programme implementation. She previously served as a Consultant in the National Viral Hepatitis Control Program under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. Her research interests include healthy ageing, geriatric health and depression, community-based care, preventive healthcare, and health promotion. She has authored research publications and a book chapter in the field of community medicine and has actively participated in academic conferences, workshops, and community health initiatives.

From Multimorbidity to Mental Health: The role of Community Nursing in Integrated Geriatric Care

Background: The ageing population is increasingly vulnerable to a range of medical, psychological, and social problems. Chronic diseases in India are on an increasing trend, along with Geriatric depression, which poses a greater obligation on the country’s available health infrastructure.

Aims: To study the prevalence of geriatric morbidity and depression, their correlation, and types of morbidity prevailing in the urban area.

Materials & Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out at UHTC, Suraj Kund, Meerut, between June 2019 and September 2020. We included 220 elderly aged 60 years and above, selected using simple random sampling, with a morbidity prevalence of 87.6%. We collected detailed information on the prevalence and pattern of morbidity in the elderly, including geriatric depression using the GDS-15, using a pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire, compiled and analysed the data using Epi Info software, version 7.2.3.1.

Results: Out of total 220 elderly,169 had one or the other morbidity at the time of survey, accounting for a sickness rate of 76.82%.GDS-15 score, assessed for depression, showed that 46.36%were indicative of depression. Nearly 86.27% of those indicative of depression were also morbid, while 35.94% of those who had no depression were free from morbidity, and this association was found to be statistically significant.

Conclusion: More than three-fourths of the elderly had at least one morbidity, with hypertension, osteoarthritis, chronic gastritis, obesity, and anaemia being the most common. Nearly half were indicative of depression, which was significantly associated with a higher prevalence of morbidity, highlighting the need for integrated geriatric and mental health services.

Keywords: Demographic Transition, Depression, Geriatric age, Geriatric Depression Scale, LASI, Morbidity, Simple Random Sampling.