Introduction. Depression is the most common mental disorder occurring in the elderly population. This is a clinical syndrome whose diagnosis requires a special approach. Depression is too rarely diagnosed due to errone- ous beliefs about old age and a less typical clinical picture. Objective. The aim of the research was to determine risk of depression in the group of geriatric patients. Material and method. The research was conducted in a group of 122 elderly patients hospitalized in the Lublin Voivodeship. Seniors were aged 60-89. Women constituted 50.8% of the respondents. The study used a standardized research tool, the Yesavage Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form (GDS-SF). Results. The results obtained indicate that the majority of the group struggles with depression - these people constitute 54.9% of the surveyed patients, of which 34.4% of respondents had moderate depression, and 20.5% of people indicated symptoms of severe depression. People who did not show symptoms of depression constituted 45.1% of the respondents. Conclusions. Most of the elderly patients examined showed symptoms of depression. Variables such as: marital status, education, housing situation and place of residence significantly influenced the risk of depression in the studied group of seniors.