Objective To survey the depression status accompanied with chronic diseases in elderly patients and the relative influencing factors. Methods Subjects were chosen from some hospitals and communities in Xi'an region, who were over 60 years old, without severe cardiopulmonary diseases or cognitive disorder druing January 2011 to May 2012. Geriatric depression scale (GDS) was used, and the results were evaluated and analyzed with their diagnosed chronic diseases and related factors. Results Among the 757 subjects, 40 were diagnosed with depression, with an incidence of 5.28%. Moreover, the women, illiterate and hard laborers had a higher incidence than the men, those with above elementary education and mental workers (P＜0.05). There was no statistical significance between different age groups (P＞0.05). The incidence of depression was positively related to chronic diseases in elderly patients. The depression incidence was significantly higher in the elderly with gastrointestinal diseases than those without (P＜0.05). However, there was no statistical difference among other system diseases (P＞0.05). Conclusion The depression of elderly people with chronic diseases is significantly related to chronic gastrointestinal diseases, suggesting that psychological counseling and care should be enhanced to prevent their depression.