Indian Journal of Science and Technology
DOI: 10.17485/ijst/2015/v8iS1/59099
Year: 2015, Volume: 8, Issue: Supplementary 1, Pages: 1-11
Original Article
Hyangsoo Kim1 , Heekyung Kim2* and Bokja Byun3
1 Department of Nursing, Munkyung College, Mungyeong-si, 745-706, South Korea; [email protected]
2 Department of Nursing, Kongju National University, Gongju-si, 314-701, South Korea; [email protected]
3 Department of Alternative Medicine, PhD course at Graduate School of Nambu University, Gwangju-si, 506-706, South Korea; [email protected]
The purpose of this study was to identify the degree of effect that lower income senior citizens’ pain, perceived health status, nutritional risk, social support and self-transcendence have on depression, and to develop a nursing mediation method. This is a descriptive research that was conducted on 164 subjects who were users of the S welfare center and P welfare center, located in D City, Korea. A questionnaire was conducted from July 27 to July 31, 2013 to collect data. Data was analyzed using SPSS 18.0 program, to conclude the descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficients and stepwise multiple regression. The study results show that the mean score for the elderly’s pain was 7.37 and the total of perceived health status was 5.47 points, which is lower than the median. Nutritional risk was 9.85 points indicating a high risk of nutrition, while social support and self-transcendence were 33.67 points and 23.85 points, respectively, which are both below median. Depression recorded 9.53 points, indicating a high likelihood of depression. In the correlation with depression, perceived health status (r=-.463, p<.001) had a weak inverse correlation, nutritional risk(r=.439, p<.001) had a weak correlation, and social support (r=-.470, p<.001) and self-transcendence (r=-.328, p<.001) had a weak inverse correlation. In terms of effect on depression among low income senior citizens, social support (B=-.110, p<.001) had the biggest effect, followed by perceived health status (B=-485., p<.001), self-transcendence (B=-.095, p=.001), nutritional risk (B=.199, p=.003), and number of diseases (B=1.199, p=.037). Overall explanatory power was 44.4%. As a follow-up, a social support system to ease depression among lower income senior citizens, a mediation program to promote mental well-being or self-transcendence, and a social safety net to lower the health and nutritional risks would be needed.
Keywords: Aged, Depression, Health Status, Malnutrition, Self-transcendence, Social Support, Poverty
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