Background: Despite being one of the most prevalent mental illnesses worldwide, depression is frequently misdiagnosed. As some of their symptoms may mimic typical aging-related problems, older persons run the risk of becoming misdiagnosed and not receiving treatment. Psychomotor retardation is a cardinal symptom of depression and one of the criteria of diagnosis of depression. In this paper we try to investigate the correlation among depression and gait speed with the goal to facilitate diagnosis of depression and to help depression recognition. We try to diagnose the depressed older adults through their gait speed.
The aim of the work: To assess the correlation among depression & gait speed in elderly patients with the aim to assist in the diagnosis of depression.
Patients and Methods: One hundred older adults [60 years and more] with positive screening test for depression were included in this study. Participants were collected from geriatric and psychiatric outpatient clinics of Syed Galal University Hospital, Cairo, Egypt. All participants were subjected to comprehensive geriatric assessment. 10-meter walk test was carried out for all participants to assess gait speed in depressed patients.
Results: The majority of participants were females [60%].  Regarding the relationship between depression symptoms and gait speed, subjects experienced weight changes, sleep disturbance, and worthlessness were significantly had slow gait speed.
Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated that slow gait speed may be a clue for the diagnosis of depression in older adults.