Effect of Leisure Activity to Elderly Living Alone with Depression

Abstract

Old age is a time when many changes occur socially and economically as well as body and cognitive functions. These changes could make the elderly more depressed. Hence, this study aimed to identify the effect of leisure activities on the elderly living alone with depression. This study is a secondary analysis study. The researchers used a part of the data from a 2020 survey of the elderly conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. The data was collected from September to November 2020. The 3117 people who directly replied to the survey and were 65 years of age or older and living alone are the subjects of this study. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, T-test, cross-analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient, and logistic regression analysis using the SPSS 23.0 program. As a result of the study, satisfaction with leisure activities showed the greatest correlation with depression in the elderly living alone and it was shown to reduce the risk of depression. Moreover, with the higher dissatisfaction with leisure activities, the risk of depression increased by 1.307 times. In addition, the risk of depression was considerably lower in participants who participated in static leisure activities compared to those who dis not, and the risk of depression was 1.473 times higher in those who did not participate in leisure activities. According to the results of this study, it is vital to create a variety of leisure programs and extend leisure education programs to encourage leisure activities that allow the elderly living alone to enjoy leisure time enhanced in old age.