The Relationships Between Life Satisfaction, Gender, Social Security, and Depressive Symptoms Among Elderly in Turkey

The main aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between life satisfaction, gender, social security, and depressive symptoms of the Turkish elderly. This cross-sectional study included 216 (female=127, male=89) participants with ages ranging from 60 to 93 years (mean=71.60 +/- 7.39). Information Gathering Form and Life Satisfaction and Geriatric Depression Scales were used for data collection. It was determined that 42.1% of the elderly who participated in this study had high depressive symptoms scores. Life satisfaction (OR=0.63, 95% CI=0.53-0.71), lack of social security benefits (OR=3.52, 95% CI=1.25-9.89), and gender (OR=2.53, 95% CI=1.17-5.50) predicted the depressive symptoms significantly. The results of the study indicate that while depression risk increases, life satisfaction decreases. In addition, lack of social security benefits and being female also increase the risk of depression in the Turkish elderly.