Relationship between Activities of Daily Living, Sleep and Depression among the Aged Living at Home

Objective: this study aimed at determining the relationship between daily living activities, sleep and depression among individuals 60 years or older living at home. methodology: this descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with 166 patients of a family health center between december 2010 and march 2011. data were collected via questionnaire form, katz index of activities of daily living (adl), geriatric depression scale- short form (gds_sf), and the pittsburgh sleep quality index (psqi). results: the participants’ mean age was 67.34±6.5, 78.9% had chronic diseases and 29.5% had walking problems. in words 56.8% had poor sleep, 26.5% had depressive symptoms and the majority were independent in adl. a negative relationship was observed between adl score and psqi and gds but a positive one between psqi and gds (p<0.05). conclusions: although individuals’ elderly people living at home are independent in basic adl, they are displaying considerable depressive symptoms and having sleep problems.