Major and sub-threshold depression and quality of life of displaced older persons: Community based cross sectional study in Nigeria

This study examined major and subthreshold depression, their relationships with sociodemographic/risk factors and quality of life (QOL) of internally displaced older persons in a rural community in north central Nigeria.  A community-based, cross-sectional study conducted among 200 older adults in Riyom, Nigeria. The respective modules of the World Health Organization (WHO) Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) and WHOQOL-BREF were used to conduct face to face interviews to assess major and subthreshold depression and QOL respectively. Data were analysed using SPSS version 23. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were performed using 95% confidence interval to analyse the significant relationships between depression, socio-demographic/risk factors, and QOL. Probability value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The prevalence of lifetime major and sub-threshold prevalence of depression were 58.5% and 12.5% respectively. The factors significantly associated with increased odds for major depression were average monthly income, history of traumatic event (s) and having a confidant to talk with after the event (s) with (OR=1.839, CI=1.364-2.480, p= 0.001); (OR=9.860, CI=1.025- 94.876, p= 0.048) (OR= 4.570, CI=1.783- 11.718, p= 0.002) respectively while access to health care and having a confidant after the event (s) similar to major depression (OR= 5.105, CI=1.037- 25.133, p= 0.045); (OR= 0.276, CI=0.088- 0.862, p= 0.027) respectively were found significantly associated for sub-threshold depression. The prevalence of major and sub-threshold depression among internally displaced older persons in a Nigerian rural community were high and there were significant relationships with sociodemographic factors and QOL. While there is a need for more studies, intervention studies in internally displaced older persons would need to consider low socioeconomic status, social support, and traumatic events with substantial impairment in QOL in addressing the burden of major and sub-threshold depression among these growing populations.