Prevalence and association of depressive symptoms with spiritual intelligence among older adults: A community-based study in rural Puducherry, South India

•Majority of the older adults (64.1 %) had depressive symptoms.•Nearly one-third had high spiritual Intelligence.•About 11 % (32/292) were partially or fully dependent.•Depressive symptoms were significantly associated with low spiritual intelligence and disturbed sleep pattern. Depression is more common among older adults, but there is a paucity of information about its association with spiritual intelligence. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and association of depressive symptoms with spiritual intelligence among older adults. This community-based cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among 292 older adults in a rural area of Puducherry, India. A structured questionnaire was used to collect each participant’s socio-demographic and behavioral factors; the presence of depressive symptoms was assessed by using Geriatric Depression Scale (short form), spiritual intelligence by the Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report Inventory-24 questionnaire and activities of daily living by Katz Index of Independence scale. Proportion for prevalence estimate, bivariate and multivariable log binomial regression analysis were done. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 64.1 % (187/292; 95 % CI 58.3–69.3). Of total, 103 (35.3 %) had low, 92 (31.55 %) had moderate and 97 (33.2 %) had high spiritual intelligence. About 11 % (32/292) were partially or fully dependent. Depressive symptoms showed a significant association with marital status, education, sleep pattern, relationship with family members and spiritual intelligence in bivariate analysis. Depressive symptoms were high among those with low spiritual intelligence and disturbed sleep pattern with Adjusted Prevalence Ratio of 1.33 (95 %CI 1.26–1.4) and 1.06 (95 %CI 1.0–1.14) respectively. Majority of the older adults had depressive symptoms and significantly more among those with low spiritual intelligence and disturbed sleep. This study gives new evidence on spiritual intelligence among older adults in a community setting and the magnitude of association of depressive symptoms with spiritual intelligence.