If you know an elderly person going through depression, then it's very much possible that their condition could go downhill once they turn 65.

According to the lead researcher of the study, Helena Chui, a lecturer in psychology at University of Bradford in England, "It is the first study to tell us depressive symptoms continue to increase throughout old age. We are in a period of unprecedented success in terms of people living longer than ever and in greater numbers and we should be celebrating this but it seems that we are finding it hard to cope."

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The research is the result of a 15-year project that observed over 2,000 older Australians living in the Adelaide area. The findings suggested that both men and women taking part in the study reported increasingly more depressive symptoms as they aged, with women initially starting with more depressive symptoms than men. However the difference in the sexes was reversed as people neared 80, because around that time, men showed a faster rate of increase in symptoms.

The researchers said that the key factors of increase included levels of physical impairment, the onset of medical conditions, particularly chronic ones and the approach of death.

Additionally, half of the people observed for the study, suffered with arthritis and both men and women with the chronic condition reported more depressive symptoms than those without.

Dr Chui also added, "These findings are very significant and have implications for how we deal with old age."

The study was published in the journal Psychology and Aging.

(With IANS inputs)