Significance of geography in depression: A comparative study of older adults in rural and urban parts of Nepal

Adhikari, P. (2025). Significance of geography in depression: A comparative study of older adults in rural and urban parts of Nepal, TU Annual Publication, 2082, 159-69. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15873798 Older adults are vulnerable to depression because of their old age and other impairments (suchas physical, cognitive, and social) invited by it. In Nepal, 44.3% of rural older adults and 34.8%of urban older adults are found to have depression. This study, using secondary data collected forresearch projects conducted in 2021 and 2023, aimed to determine if human geography (specifically,rural-urban living) affected depression in 746 Nepali older adults. Moreover, it examined if somesociodemographic factors predicted it. The original studies collected data using survey methodsfrom a rural municipality in Kavrepalanchok and a metropolis from Kathmandu. The findingsshowed that urban-rural living did not significantly affect depression among Nepali older adults,with t(744)=1.91 and p=0.057 overall, but some symptoms of it (such as anhedonia, emptinessfeeling,apathy, low mood, helplessness, cognitive decline, hopelessness, and low energy) weresignificantly affected. Some demographic factors like education, socioeconomic status, maritalstatus, and income significantly predicted depression among older adults. The conclusion is thatsocial factors are responsible for mental health problems of older adults as predicted by thebiopsychosocial model even though urban-rural living (a human geographical factor) was notseen as affecting depression as a whole. The interventions designed to alleviate depression in olderadults should heed selective social factors such as having income and literacy, besides biologicaland psychological ones. If depression as a whole is considered, urban-rural interventions can bethe same but if its symptoms are considered, they need to be discriminating.