Journal of Affective Disorders ( IF 6.6 ) Pub Date : 2021-04-02 , DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.03.078 Hongyan Lin 1 , Mengdi Jin 1 , Qian Liu 1 , Yue Du 2 , Jingzhu Fu 1 , Changqing Sun 3 , Fei Ma 4 , Wen Li 1 , Huan Liu 1 , Xumei Zhang 1 , Yun Zhu 4 , Yongjie Chen 4 , Zhuoyu Sun 4 , Guangshun Wang 5 , Guowei Huang 1 , Jing Yan 2
Background
With an aging population, late-life depression has been a major health problem in rural China. This study aims to explore the gender-specific prevalence of geriatric depression in rural Tianjin, its influencing factors, and to provide a scientific basis for the prevention and intervention of depression in the elderly.
Methods
A cross-sectional study of 4,933 elderly individuals in rural Tianjin was conducted using the cluster sampling method. The independent samples t-test and chi-squared test were used to assess differences in participants' characteristics by depressive symptoms, while multiple linear regressions and multiple logistic regressions were used to analyze the potential influencing factors of depression.
Results
The prevalence of geriatric depression was found to be 12.2% in the study participants (9.5% in men and 14.5% in women). Gender, education, household income, employment, living alone, social activities, physical exercise and chronic diseases were associated with depression (P<0.05). In addition to the above factors, sleep duration was also related with scores on self-rating depression scale (P<0.05).
Limitations
The study used a cross-sectional approach, so causation cannot be concluded.
Conclusions
Late-life depression is a serious mental health issue in rural China, highlighting the importance of appropriate diagnosis and treatment as a priority to improve the quality of mental health.