Social Frailty and Depression Among Older Adults in Ghana: Insights from the WHO SAGE Surveys
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Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
SAGE
Abstract
In this study, we examine the association between social frailty and depression among older adults in Ghana over time. We
employed longitudinal data analysis to examine the association between social frailty, socioeconomic status and depression using
data from the WHO-SAGE survey.
Our descriptive and cross-tabulation analyses show that the prevalence of depression and social frailty among older adults
decreased considerably in 2014/2015 compared to 2007/2008. The finding also reveals a huge reduction in social frailty among
older adults in northern Ghana–the most deprived regions in Ghana–compared to those in southern Ghana. The multivariate
panel data analysis reveals that depression was significantly associated with social isolation, financial needs, and physical needs. The
findings suggest an over time decline in social frailty and depression among older adults, as well as, reduction in regional dif ferences in social frailty and depression among older adults in Ghana.
Keywords
longitudinal analysis, financial needs, food security, social isolation, physical needs, Ghana
Background
Research has established links between socioeconomic status
and psychosocial wellbeing (Collins & Goldman, 2008; Mar mot et al., 2008). The evidence suggests that older adults with
limited social support and those of lower socioeconomic status
have worse mental health; and also tend to be more susceptible
to morbidities than their counterparts of higher socioeconomic
status, consequently leading to early death (Allen et al., 2014;
Cornwell & Waite, 2009; Ma et al., 2018; Yamada & Arai,
2018). While socioeconomic inequalities exist among all age
groups, some researchers argue it is more amplified among
older adults mainly due to their vulnerabilities to frailty and
the pathway of life-course determinants that become exacer bated in late life (Benzeval et al., 2011; van Kippersluis et al.,
2010). Older persons are thus said to be more vulnerable to
social frailty than younger adults. Social frailty refers to the
absence of crucial social and economic resources as well as self
-management abilities vital for achieving one’s social needs
and invariably negatively impact physical and psychosocial
wellbeing (Bunt et al., 2017; Ma et al., 2018).
Studies show that older adults living with greater social
support and social assistance, including formal financial sup port from governments, have better mental health than their
counterparts with less social support (Kobayashi & Steptoe,
2018; Min et al., 2016; O’Hara et al., 2016). In this context,
social frailty among older adults is significantly associated with
depre
Description
Research Article
Keywords
longitudinal analysis, financial needs, food security, social isolation, physical needs, Ghana