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RESULTS
This study explored the level of social isolation and depression among one sample
of Cambodian elderly in Long Beach, California. Fifteen Cambodian elderly, aged 65-89,
were interviewed between May 1 and May 17, 2000. The interviews were conducted in
the participants’ homes. The following consists of the demographic characteristics of
respondents and the respondents’ Geriatric Depression Scale scores.
Demographics
Table 1 shows the demographic characteristics of the respondents. The
respondents’ ages ranged from 65 to 85 years. Of the fifteen respondents, 7 were males
and 8 were females. In terms of marital status, 6 reported married, 1 separated, and 8
widowed. Finally, in terms of the number of children, 2 reported no children, 6 reported
one children, 2 reported two children, and 5 reported three or more children. The
respondents reported children who are currently living in the U.S. or abroad. All
respondents, except for one, have reported numbers of children who died or were
murdered during the Cambodian genocide.
Geriatric Depression Scale
Table 2 reports all GDS items or questionnaires and the percentage of responses.
Table 3 shows participants’ depression scores, frequency and percentages of participants.
On the GDS, one respondent (6.7%) ranked the score of 5, two (13.3%) ranked 7, one
(6.7%) ranked 8, three (20%) ranked 10, three (20%) ranked 11, three (20%) ranked 12,
and two (13.3%) ranked 13. Table 4 reports Depression Scale Groupings and Ratings.
One respondent ranked “normal,” six ranked “mild,” and eight ranked “very depressed.”
Participants were tape-recorded as the depression scale questionnaires were read out loud
in Khmer. Before directly responding to the items, most participants responded to the
questions by stating their general opinions or other comments/statements regarding the
items to the questionnaire.
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Questionaire Responses
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