Underdiagnosed Depression in Older Adults: Analysis of the National Health Survey and Other Aggregate Factors

Eduardo Paraíso, Ariane B. da Silva, Cristiane Nobre

2024

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization, the total number of people living with depression worldwide is more than 300 million, with depressive disorders ranked globally as the third leading cause of disability. Among older adults, depression is the most common mental illness. This study addressed the cultural stigma surrounding depression in older adults and investigated factors contributing to underdiagnosis and undertreatment. We used data from older adults participating in the National Health Survey (NHS). We applied machine learning algorithms to predict the disorder (Random Forest, Support Vector Machine, Logistic Regression, Gradient Boost, XGBoost, Decision Tree, and Multilayer Neural Network), carefully interpreting the result obtained. Through the interpretability of ML models, the study identified risk factors associated with depression, and using silhouette index and attribute comparison, we found evidence of potential individuals who, although undiagnosed, may be suffering or about to suffer from depression, requiring appropriate care and treatment. This study represents a significant advance in mitigating the impact of cultural stigma on mental health diagnoses in the older population in Brazil.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Paraíso E., B. da Silva A. and Nobre C. (2024). Underdiagnosed Depression in Older Adults: Analysis of the National Health Survey and Other Aggregate Factors. In Proceedings of the 17th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies - Volume 2: HEALTHINF; ISBN 978-989-758-688-0, SciTePress, pages 91-102. DOI: 10.5220/0012365000003657

in Bibtex Style

@conference{healthinf24,
author={Eduardo Paraíso and Ariane B. da Silva and Cristiane Nobre},
title={Underdiagnosed Depression in Older Adults: Analysis of the National Health Survey and Other Aggregate Factors},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 17th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies - Volume 2: HEALTHINF},
year={2024},
pages={91-102},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0012365000003657},
isbn={978-989-758-688-0},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 17th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies - Volume 2: HEALTHINF
TI - Underdiagnosed Depression in Older Adults: Analysis of the National Health Survey and Other Aggregate Factors
SN - 978-989-758-688-0
AU - Paraíso E.
AU - B. da Silva A.
AU - Nobre C.
PY - 2024
SP - 91
EP - 102
DO - 10.5220/0012365000003657
PB - SciTePress