Citation

Afzali A, Vakili Z, Goli S, Bagheri H, Mirhosseini S, Ebrahimi H. Open Public Health J. 2021; 14(1): 537-544.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Bentham Science Publishers)

DOI

10.2174/1874944502114010537

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Anxiety and depression in the elderly are considered important mental disorders.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to determine the effect of zinc Supplementation on depression and anxiety in the elderly.

METHODS: This study was a parallel randomized clinical trial. A total of 150 elderly aged 60 years and older were allocated into intervention and control groups by using the quadruple blocking method. The elderly in the intervention group received a daily dose of 30 mg zinc supplementation pill for 70 days and the elderly in the control group did not receive this supplement. Depression and anxiety in the elderly were measured using the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Beck Anxiety Inventory, respectively. A significance level of 0.05 was considered for all statistical tests.

RESULTS: After the intervention, the mean scores of depression and anxiety in the elderly were significantly decreased in the intervention group, as compared with the control group. Moreover, after the intervention, the serum zinc level in the elderly was significantly increased in the intervention group, as compared with the control group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION: The use of zinc supplements improved depression and anxiety in the elderly. Therefore, it is recommended to use zinc supplements as a new therapeutic strategy for the prevention and treatment of depression and anxiety in the elderly. Registration No: This research was registered in the Iranian clinical trial system with code IRCT2017071635110N1. © 2021 Afzali et al.

Language: en

Keywords

human; Anxiety; Depression; suicide; female; male; aged; depression; prevalence; anxiety; randomized controlled trial; scoring system; Zinc; mood disorder; Mood disorders; major clinical study; controlled study; questionnaire; zinc; Beck Anxiety Inventory; geriatric nursing; Article; Mini Mental State Examination; Elder; Geriatric Depression Scale; mental test; zinc blood level; dietary supplement; Geriatric nursing; Abbreviated Mental Test Score