The relationship of spiritual well-being and aging perceptions with depression in Iranian older adults: a cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between spiritual health and aging perception with depression in older adults in Bushehr city, 2019. The present cross-sectional study designed based on the STROBE statement on 430 elderly people. Systematic multi-stage sampling was performed with the informed consent of participants. The mean age of participants was 66.83 ± 7.91 years. The mean scores of spiritual health, physical health and aging perception were obtained 96.75 ± 10.02, 43.07 ± 4.86 and 58.65 ± 6.69, respectively. The results of the interaction between the variables of spiritual health and perception of aging on depression showed a significant relationship between these variables and depression. The results showed that spiritual health and perception of aging have a significant effect on depression. In other words, older adults who were more aware of their aging process and had higher spiritual health reported less depression.

KEYWORDS:

• Aging perception
• spiritual
• elderly
• depression
• PHQ-9
• mental health
• religion

Acknowledgements

This study was taken from a research project approved by BUSHEHR University of Medical Sciences. The researchers thank the research deputy of BUSHEHR University of Medical Sciences, “Clinical Research Development Center of the Shohadaye- Khalije- Fars Hospital in Bushehr city”, and all the other people who cooperated in this project and also all older adults who participated in the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The present study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Deputy of Research and Information Technology and received the code of ethics (IR.BPUMS.REC.1398.004). Participants were asked to sign the informed consent based on the Declaration of Helsinki. The participants delivered their written informed consent ahead of conducting the study. Furthermore, the participation in the study was voluntary and the participants could be excluded at any stage of the study.

Data availability statement

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Bushehr University of Medical Sciences [grant no. 645].