Association between religiosity/spirituality and quality of life or depression among living-alone elderly in a South Korean city.

INTRODUCTION: This study investigated the effects of religiosity and spirituality on quality of life and depression among older people.

METHODS: Two hundred and seventy-four solitary elderly people aged over 65 years living in Chuncheon city, South Korea were selected. Symptoms of depression were evaluated using the Short Geriatric Depression Scale-Korean version (SGDS-K) and quality of life was measured using Geriatric Quality of Life-Dementia (GQOL-D). We used the Duke Religion Index (DUREL) to assess religiosity and spirituality.

RESULTS: There was a significant correlation between scales of depression (SGDS-K), quality of life (GQOL-D), and scale of religiosity/spirituality (DUREL) in older people. Depressed people had a lower score GQOL-D than non-depressed people. Among the depressed, those believing in a religion had a higher GQOL-D score than the non-religious. Multiple regression analysis revealed that religiosity and spirituality had significant effects on depression and quality of life among the elderly. Interestingly, religiosity and spirituality were not related to depression and quality of life amongst Buddhists, but were related amongst Protestants and Catholics.

DISCUSSION: Religiosity and spirituality had significant effects on depression and on quality of life among the Korean elderly. However, there are different relationships between depression and religiosity, quality of life, and religiosity based on different religions. More research is needed to elucidate these findings.