ORIGINAL ARTICLE The Prevalence of Depression Among Elderly Warded in a Tertiary Care Centre in Wilayah Persekutuan M S Sherina, MMed (Family Medicine), L Rampal, PHD (Epidemiology), M Arfah Hanim, Bsc, P L Thong, BSc Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor Introduction One common stereotype of growing older is that there is a high chance of becoming depressed. This stereotype has fostered the exploration of depression as a natural aspect of aging and how depression and age are related. Depressive disorders are characterized by depressive symptoms such as disturbance in mood, cognition and behaviour', The depressive symptoms that were found relate to lower levels of social support, accumulation of chronic medical disorders, general stress, and the number of stressful life events experienced by the elderly'. Depression is the most common mental illness among persons over age 60 years old. Depression is widespread with at least 16% of patients receiving care in a primary care setting. A higher percentage in hospitals and nursing homes exhibiting depression'. Approximately 15% of older Americans suffer from significant depression 4 • In community-dwelling elderly, the prevalence of major depression is approximately 2%, and of minor depression 15 to 30% 5. In medical outpatients, the prevalence of depression ranges from 7 to 36°106. Patients hospitalized for medical reasons experience depreSSion at a rate of 10 to 30% " This article was accepted: 12 August 2005 Corresponding Author: Sherina Mohd. Sidik, Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor Med J Malaysia Vol 61 No 1 March 2006 15