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ORIGINAL ARTICLE Prevalence and Predictors of Geriatric Depression in Community-Dwelling Elderly 1 2 3 Jeung-Im Kim , RN, PhD, Myoung-Ae Choe , RN, PhD, Young Ran Chae *, RN, PhD 1School of Nursing, Soon Chun Hyang University, Asan, Korea 2College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea 3Department of Nursing, Kangwon National University, Chunchon, Korea Purpose This study aimed to examine the relationship between depressive mood and physical and socio-environmental variables of community-dwelling elderly. Methods This study was designed as a cross-sectional descriptive survey. The setting was two elderly welfare centers and two public health centers in Korea. The subjects were recruited by public announce- ment and participated after giving their written informed consent. A total of 295 participants were included in the final analysis. The Korean version of the short form of Geriatric Depression Scale (SGDS-K), Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence (TMIG-IC) of activities of daily living (ADL) and a socio-demographic questionnaire were administered to participants. Hand-grip strength was measured with a hand dynamometer. Results The prevalence of depression among the subjects was 63%. Of the elderly, 21% had severe depressive symptoms. The mean depression score was 6.21 (SD = 3.83) and it was higher in women than in men. In the regression analysis, perceived health status alone had an accountability of 17.3% to depres- sion. When TMIG-IC was added, this increased to 22.6%. Additionally, when hand-grip strength and social activities were input, it increased to 25.2%. Therefore, pe