Socio-demographic characteristics and co-occurrence of depressive symptoms with chronic diseases among older adults in China: the China longitudinal ageing social survey

• Published in: BMC psychiatry 2019-10, Vol.19 (1), p.310-310, Article 310
• Main Authors: Wang, Zhenjie, Yang, Hanmo, Guo, Zhanyuan, Liu, Bei, Geng, Shen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Aging - psychology; Arthritis; Care and treatment; China; China - epidemiology; Chronic Disease - epidemiology; Chronic Disease - psychology; Chronic diseases; Communicable diseases; Comorbidity; Cross-Sectional Studies; Demography; Depression (Mood disorder); Depression - epidemiology; Depressive symptoms; Diabetes mellitus; Education; Elder population; Elderly; Epidemiology; Female; Health aspects; Humans; Hypertension; Logistic Models; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical research; Middle Aged; Odds Ratio; Social surveys; Socioeconomic Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires
• ISSN: 1471-244X; 1471-244X
• DOI: 10.1186/s12888-019-2305-2

The aim of the current study is to assess the cross-sectional association of chronic non-communicable diseases (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, arthritis, and cerebrovascular) with depressive symptoms among older adults in China. Data was obtained from the China Longitudinal Ageing Social Survey (CLASS) conducted in 2014. A total of 7505 participants were included. Depressive symptoms status was assessed by 9-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) Associations between depressive symptoms and chronic diseases, adjusting for so, demographics and chronic diseases risk factors were assessed by using logistic regression model. We found negative associations between depressive symptoms and several socioeconomic factors, including education attainment and economic level. Widowed/divorced/ unmarried individuals are more likely to suffer from depressive symptoms. Hypertension (Odds ratio:1.29 [95%CI:1.16, 1.42]), diabetes (1.41 [95%CI:1.19,1.67]), arthritis (1.72 [1.52, 1.96]), and cerebrovascular disease (1.69 [1.41, 2.02]) were found to be associated with depressive symptoms. Most depressive symptoms cases were found to be significantly associated with chronic diseases. Our findings have provided evidence for understanding co-morbid depressive symptoms with chronic diseases, which could help clinicians to evaluate, diagnose and manage depression promptly.