Besides Depression, Number of Physiological Diseases is More Important than Physical Function on Mental Health of Elderly Adults in Taiwan

This study contrasted the relative importance between the number of physiological diseases and activities of daily living (ADLs) to the mental health of elderly adults after controlling for mini-mental state exam (MMSE) scores and depression. Participants were 1342 elderly people with a mean age of 73.22 years and living in three communities in southern Taiwan. Age, gender, years of education duration, marital status, and MMSE and hamilton depression rating scale (HAMD) scores were control variables. The ability of the ADLs scale scores and number of physiological diseases to predict mental health, as measured by the 12-item Chinese health questionnaire, was compared using hierarchical regression analyses. The final hierarchical model indicated that only HAMD and the number of physiological diseases scores were significant and that the former was much more predictive than the latter. The results imply that the number of physiological diseases is more predictive of mental health than ADLs scores and that depression is a dangerous risk factor for elderly people.