Factors associated with depressive symptoms among elderly Koreans: the role of health status, work ability, financial problems, living alone, and family relationships

Objectives The purpose of this study was to explore predictors of depressive symptoms in elderly Koreans. Methods The data from Korean Welfare Panel survey of Korean Institute for Health and Social Affairs in 2015 was used in this study. Six thousand four hundred and seventy‐one elderly adults aged 60–99 participated in this study. Mean age of subjects was 74.37 years (SD = 8.27) and participants were 2569 male (39.7%) and 3902 female (60.3%). Results Multiple hierarchical regression analysis indicated that perceived health status, family relationships, living alone, financial problems, work ability, gender, age, marital status, and religion are significant predictors of elderly depressive symptoms. In particular, perceived health status, family relationships, and work ability were powerful predictors of depressive symptoms in Korean elderly. The total explanatory amount of the regression model was 28.7%. Conclusions This study suggests that researchers and clinicians should consider together factors associated with health status, interpersonal relationships, economic status, work, and socio‐demographic variables in order to prevent elderly depression.