Anger and depression among the elderly people with hypertension

Abstract

Objective To determine the status of anger and depression among the elderly people with hypertension. Materials and methods The study was conducted with 418 elderly people diagnosed with hypertension. The data were collected with a personal information form, Spielberger Trait Anger-Anger Expression Scale and Geriatric Depression Scale. Results It was found out that there was a close correlation between anger and depression among the elderly people and as anger increased so did depression. It was explored that there was a close correlation between duration of hypertension and depression and as the duration of hypertension increased so did depression. Anger scores were higher among the elderly people who were male, worked, smoked and drank alcohol while depression scores were higher among the elderly people who were female, widowed, literate and dependent upon others in leading activities of daily living. Conclusions There was a close correlation between anger and depression among the elderly people and between duration of hypertension and depression. Therefore it is necessary to determine anger among the elderly people, to express anger in a proper way and to plan approaches that prevent depression. © 2013 Elsevier GmbH.