취업 여부가 노인의 우울에 미치는 영향

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the effect of employment of elderly over 65 years on elderly depression using the “Nation Elderly Survey 2014”. Methods: The subjects were 10,451 elderly aged 65 or older who were selected from 16 cities and provinces via multilevel stratified sampling method. In an effort to represent well the nation’s elderly population, composite sample analysis method was used for the study, and a hierarchical logistic regression analysis was performed to identify those factors affecting the depression among the elderly population. Results: The factors affecting the depression were education level, household income, Perceived health status, smoking, drinking, physical activity, body mass index and employment status. It was found that the unemployed persons were 1.68 times more likely to be depressed than those who remain employed. Conclusion: Where the average life expectancy is getting longer and the poverty rate of elderly is high, employment activities of the elderly are of great significance in terms of ensuring economic stability as well as in lowering medical expenses through reduction of depression. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the employment rates of the elderly for economic, social and healthcare perspectives.