title: Association of pain and physical dependency with depression in physically ill middle-aged and elderly persons.
abstract: To investigate the relationship of pain and physical dependency to depression, the authors conducted a panel survey of 133 middle-aged and elderly persons with recent exacerbations of various physical illnesses. Of the original 133 subjects, 114 participated in two in-depth personal interviews conducted about three months apart. Variables that were measured included age, income, social support, physical dependency, pain, and depression. Physical dependency was moderately associated with depression (r = .27). A multiple regression analysis performed to control for the other variables, however, revealed that physical dependency had little effect on depression (R2 change = .03). Correlation (r = .41) and regression (R2 change = .13) analyses indicated that pain was an important factor in level of depression even after controlling for all of the other variables.
authors.affiliation: Institute on Aging, Portland State University, OR.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schulz
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support