Hospital Acquired Depressive Symptoms in Frail Elderly Patients and Its Associations with Zinc Level

Abstract

Introduction: Frailty is obscure and under-estimated, starts subclinically in elderly who seem to be healthy. Minimal thesis in literature handled the relationship between frailty and depression. The elderly are more subjected to depression and trace elements insufficiency than others. Objective: To assess newly developed depressive and anxiety symptoms in frail elderly admitted to Ain Shams University (ASU) hospitals and the prevalence of zinc deficiency among them. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 90 older frail inpatients. Hospital-acquired depressive and anxiety symptoms were confirmed using the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS). Serum zinc level, hemoglobin, and albumin were measured. Results: There was a significant statistical association between depressive and anxiety symptoms and low serum level of zinc ( p <0.001). Conclusion: There is a strong association between depressive and anxiety symptoms in hospitalized elderly and zinc deficiency.