This study aimed to compare self-care behaviors and depressive symptoms between the young old (65-74 yr) and the old-old (75-84 yr) in low-income women with hypertension.

This study used a descriptive research design. The subjects of this study were 136 elderly women over 65 yr living in D city. Data was collected from September to December 2007 through personal interviews using a questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed using the SPSS WIN 12.0 Program.

Self-care behaviors, functional status, and number of medications showed a significant difference between young elderly and middle elderly. There was a negative correlation between self-care behaviors and depressive symptoms. 52.2% of variance in self-care behaviors of young elderly and 76.8% of variance in self-care behaviors of middle elderly were explained by depressive symptoms, number of medications, and functional status.

It is necessary to manage depressive symptoms to improve the self-care behaviors of low-income elderly with hypertension. Depressive symptoms need to be considered in planning hypertension programs for low-income elderly women.