DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN FRENCH ELDERLY - A N URBAN-RURAL COMPARISON

The aim of this article is to compare the prevalence of depressive sym ptoms and its correlates in an urban and a rural sample of 2797 person s of age 65 and over living in Southwest France. Tire crude prevalence rate of elevated depressive symptomatology, evaluated by the Center o f Epidemiological Studies Depression (CESD) scale was 14.1 % and 13.9 % respectively in the rural and the urban area. After adjusting for po tential confounders, the risk of elevated depressive symptoms is sligh tly higher in the urban area (p = 0.09). Factors found to be associate d with the level of depression are the same in the rural and the urban area, and the magnitude of the effects is comparable. These results a pe compared with those of other studies and the observed differences a re discussed.