Associations between depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, their comorbidity and health-related quality of life: a large-scale cross-sectional study

Physical activity and health-related quality of life in older adults: depression as a mediator

BACKGROUND

Physical activity(PA) is associated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among older adults, and both are associated with mood, such as depression. However, the indirect effects of PA on HRQoL in older adults have not been clearly established. This study explained how different types and intensities of PA were associated with HRQoL while considering the effects of depression in older adults.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 7,518 community-dwelling older adults aged 60 years and older. PA (leisure-time, household, and work-related), depression, and HRQoL were measured using the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE), the 30-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-30), and the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), respectively. Information on age, gender, education, monthly income, activities of daily living, smoking, and alcohol drinking was also collected. Regression analysis was used to explore the relationship between PA, depression and HRQoL, and a mediation effect test process was used to verify the mediating mechanism of the depression on this relationship.

RESULTS

The study showed that after adjusting for a set of covariates, SF-36 Physical Component Summary (PCS) scores were negatively associated with depression (B = -2.046, 95% CI [2.584, -1.509]) and positively with PA (p < 0.001). Similarly, SF-36 Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores were negatively associated with depression (B = -11.657, 95% CI [-12.190, -11.124]). In mediation analyses, we found that depression partially mediated the relationship between different types and intensities PA and PCS (moderate leisure-time PA: B = 0.223, 95%CI [0.153,0.293], P < 0.001; vigorous leisure-time PA: B = 0.323, 95%CI [0.232,0.413], P < 0.001; moderate household PA: B = 0.092, 95%CI [0.045,0.139], P < 0.001; vigorous household PA: B = 0.137, 95%CI [0.085,0.190], P < 0.001; work-related PA: B = 0.193, 95%CI [0.658,0.190], P < 0.001) and MCS (moderate leisure-time PA: B = 1.243, 95%CI [1.008,1.479], P < 0.001; vigorous leisure-time PA: B = 1.800, 95%CI [1.585,2.015], P < 0.001; moderate household PA: B = 0.496, 95%CI [0.274,0.718], P < 0.001; vigorous household PA: B = 0.742, 95%CI [0.521,0.963], P < 0.001; work-related PA: B = 1.026, 95%CI [0.819,1.234], P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggested that leisure-time, household, and work-related PA were negatively associated with depression, while positively affecting HRQoL in Chinese older adults. The relationships between different types and intensities of PA and HRQoL were mediated by depression. Interventions aimed at promoting purposeful exercise and different types of PA may have mental health benefits. It is recommended that geriatric health managers and healthcare planners prioritize interventions to help improve PA intensities, alleviate depressive symptoms to promote beneficial effects on HRQoL in older adults.

Relationship between self-management of patients with anxiety disorders and their anxiety level and quality of life: A cross-sectional study

PURPOSE

To explore the correlation between self-management and anxiety and quality of life in patients with anxiety disorders and to understand whether self-management can influence the relationship between anxiety and quality of life and provide a basis for improving their anxiety and quality of life.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey of 245 patients with anxiety disorders in West China Hospital of Sichuan University was conducted using the Self-Management of Anxiety Disorders Scale, Self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), and World Health Organization Quality of Life-BBREF. The data were then analyzed using descriptive tests and Pearson correlation in SPSS 25. Bootstrap mediated effects tests were used to test the effect relationship between anxiety, quality of life and self-management scores in patients with anxiety disorders and Amos was used to establish the structural equation model.

RESULTS

The results of the correlation analysis showed that the total self-management score was positively correlated with the total quality of life score (r = 0.695, P <0.001), physical domain score (r = 0.552, P <0.001), psychological domain score (r = 0.661, P <0.001), social relations domain score (r = 0.542, P <0.001), and environmental domain score (r = 0.614, P <0.001). Additionally, it was negatively correlated with SAS score (r = -0.470, P <0.001). Self-management partially mediates the relationship between anxiety and quality of life, and the direct effect value of anxiety on quality of life was -0.44. The indirect effect value of self-management was -0.27, accounting for 38% of the total effect value.

CONCLUSION

Self-management of patients with anxiety disorders was negatively correlated with anxiety and positively correlated with quality of life. It played a partially mediating effect between anxiety and quality of life. We recommend that healthcare providers pay attention to self-management interventions for patients with anxiety disorders to further improve their quality of life.

Does awareness of diabetic status increase risk of depressive or anxious symptoms? Findings from the China Multi-Ethnic cohort (CMEC) study

INTRODUCTION

People with diabetes mellitus (DM) have increased risk of depressive symptoms (DS) or anxious symptoms (AS). This study explores whether awareness of DM will contribute to prevalence of DS or AS.

METHODS

The baseline data including 81,717 adults from Southwest China was analyzed. DS and AS were assessed using PHQ-2 and GAD-2. Exposures were defined as 1) having self-reported physician diagnosis of diabetes (self-reported DM), 2) no prior diagnosis of diabetes but meeting diagnostic criteria (newly diagnosed DM), 3) having self-reported physician diagnosis or meeting criteria of non-diabetic diseases (non-diabetic patients), 4) healthy participants. Generalized linear mixed models were used to assess impact of presence and awareness of DM on DS or AS, adjusting for regional and individual related factors.

RESULTS

The prevalence of DS in self-reported DM, newly diagnosed DM, non-diabetic patient and healthy participants was 7.08 %, 4.30 %, 5.37 % and 3.17 %. The prevalence of AS was 7.80 %, 5.77 %, 6.37 % and 3.91 %. After adjusting for related factors, compared with healthy participants, self-reported DM and non-diabetic patients were associated with DS [AOR_{DS, self-reported} = 1.443(1.218,1.710), AOR_{DS, nondiabetic patients} = 1.265(1.143,1.400)], while the association between newly diagnosed DM and DS was not statistically significant. The associations between self-reported DM, newly diagnosed DM, non-diabetic patients and AS were all statistically significant.

LIMITATIONS

DS and AS were assessed through self-report and may suffer recall or information bias.

CONCLUSIONS

The association between awareness of diabetes and DS/AS suggests to pay attention to distinguish between self-reported and newly diagnosed DM and screening for DS and AS in diabetic population.

Multidimensional evaluation of healthy life expectancy indicators based on mental health among the rural older population: A large-scale cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to estimate healthy life expectancy (HLE) regarding anxiety, depression and their comorbidity among rural older adults.

METHODS

A total of 12,851 subjects (5790 men and 7061 women) enrolled from the Henan Rural Cohort Study were used to evaluate healthy status expectancy (HSE), and 10,096 (4475 men and 5621 women) of them were used to estimate health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE). The life expectancy was calculated using period life table, and HSE and HALE indicators were calculated via the Sullivan method.

RESULTS

For participants aged 60, the depression-free life expectancy (DFLE), anxiety-free life expectancy (AFLE), and depression- and anxiety-free life expectancy (DAFLE) were 23.0993, 23.3314, and 22.7206 years, respectively. The quality-adjusted life expectancy (QALE) of those with neither anxiety nor depression, with anxiety, with depression, and with comorbidity was 22.0727, 20.8751, 18.1484, and 17.0823 years, respectively. The ratio of DFLE (AFLE) to LE increased with age among both genders, while the DAFLE/LE showed a decreasing trend. Regardless of HSE or HALE indicators, women tended to have higher HLE, while HLE/LE was lower than men. Furthermore, all HLE indicators associated with anxiety were the largest in both genders compared to indicators regarding depression.

LIMITATIONS

The HLE may be overestimated ignoring institutional population in the study.

CONCLUSION

Anxiety and depression played essential roles in the quality of life among rural older adults, especially depression. Comorbidity would intensify the adverse effect in rural areas, especially for older men. More attention should be paid to the psychological problems among rural older population.

Health-Related Quality of Life and Utility Scores of Posttreatment Patients with Gastric Cancer at Different Pathological Stages: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is a key variable in the evaluation of health economics. We aimed to evaluate the HRQoL and utility scores of patients with gastric cancer and related precancerous lesions by assessing their quality of life using a single standardized health measurement instrument. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted in six counties in Shangdong Province from November 2019 to March 2020. Subjects with precancerous lesions and gastric cancer (cardia and noncardia) were included and surveyed. Patients were divided into four groups: low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (LGIN), high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HGIN), early gastric cancer (EGC), and advanced gastric cancer (AGC). All patients, except those with LGIN, received treatment. The five-level EQ-5D was used to assess HRQoL and generate utility scores using the Chinese-specific tariff published in 2017. Results. The study included 566 respondents. The average utility was 0.927 for precancerous lesions (LGIN: 0.930; HGIN: 0.926), 0.906 for early gastric cancer (EGC), and 0.756 for advanced gastric cancer (AGC). Visual analogue scale (VAS) means were 76.82 (LGIN: 78.08; HGIN: 74.81), 72.26, and 69.16 for precancerous lesions, EGC, and AGC, respectively. HRQoL was lower in women with AGC than in men (0.612 vs. 0.792, $P=0.035$ ). AGC patients were more likely to report problems across all five dimensions than patients in other stages. The proportion of patients reporting pain/discomfort problems was highest across all gastric cancer stages (LGIN, 35.6%; HGIN, 34.4%; EGC, 35.6%; and AGC, 55.7%), followed by anxiety/depression (LGIN, 17.5%; HGIN, 18%; EGC, 22.8%; and AGC, 47.7%). Conclusions. HRQoL declined as cancer progressed, with the most dramatic decline observed in patients with AGC. A more advanced pathological stage was associated with a greater decrease in health utility. The obtained utilities for different pathological stages of gastric cancer were significant parameters for researchers to perform further cost-utility analysis. Pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression were problems that seriously affected the patients in all groups.