Perceived stress and psychiatric morbidity among elderly people living separately in the community due to the out-migration of their adult children Prakash Shiv, Srivastava Adya Shanker Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh Online published on 10 September, 2021. Abstract The present cross-sectional comparative study was conducted to assess and compare the level of perceived stress and the risk of psychiatric morbidity in randomly selected elderly people (N=220), residing in areas in Varanasi district, (Uttar Pradesh), living with their adult children (N=110) and elderly people living separately (N=110) due to the migration of their adult children to other cities or foreign countries. These elderly persons were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic variables, and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, Hindi Mini-Mental Status Examination scale, and Perceived Stress scale were also administered to them. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20. Descriptive data were compared using frequency, percentage, mean, and SD. The comparison between the groups (living alone and living with children) and the relative risk was assessed using the Chi-square test and Pearson's bivariate correlation test was used to assess the correlation between variables. There was a significant difference found in the level of perceived stress and the risk of psychiatric morbidity between the study groups. The perceived stress was found positively correlated with psychiatric morbidity. The level of perceived stress and the risk of psychiatric morbidity was found comparatively high among elderly living separately from their adult children in the community. Top Keywords Migration, Older adults, Depression, Anxiety, Cognitive impairment. Top |