The relationship between walking ability, self-rated health, and depressive symptoms in middle-aged and elderly people after controlling demographic, health status, and lifestyle variables

The global aging problem is very serious. With the increase of age, the risk of depression in the elderly is also increasing. It is necessary to find effective strategies to reduce the depressive symptoms of the elderly. This study investigated the relationship between depressive symptoms, walking ability, and self-evaluation health of middle-aged and elderly Chinese after controlling demographic variables, health status, and lifestyle. The data is from the China health and retirement longitudinal study database in 2018. Six thousand eight hundred thirty-five people over the age of 50 have complete information on walking ability, self-assessed health status, and depressive symptoms. SPSS 27.0 software was used to conduct Z-test, logistic regression and linear hierarchical regression analysis on the collected data. The results showed that poor walking ability and poor self-evaluation health status of middle-aged and elderly people were significantly related to depression. The study concluded that middle-aged and elderly people with good walking ability and self-rated health status had a lower risk of depression. This study can provide reference for formulating specific and effective intervention measures for senile depression.

Chronic cough, not asthma, is associated with depression in the elderly: a community-based population analysis in South Korea

BACKGROUND/AIMS

Depression and allergic diseases, including asthma, are frequently reported as comorbid conditions. However, their associations have been rarely examined in community-based elderly populations.

METHODS

The analyses were performed using the baseline data set of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Health and Aging, which consists of 1,000 elderly participants (aged > 65 years) randomly recruited from an urban community. Depression was assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. Major and minor depressive disorders were diagnosed by psychiatrists. Allergic conditions were assessed using structured questionnaires, lung function, and skin prick test. Quality of life and comorbidities were assessed using structured questionnaires.

RESULTS

Prevalence of asthma and major depressive disorder were 5.4% and 5.3%, respectively. The rate of depression was not significantly different between the non-asthmatic and asthmatic groups. No correlation was observed between the scores obtained using the depression scales and self-reported asthma. However, chronic, frequent, and nocturnal cough were significantly associated with depression and scores obtained using the depression scales, which remained significant in multivariate logistic regression analyses (chronic cough: odds ratio [OR], 3.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.57 to 12.74; p = 0.04). Rhinitis was independently associated with high Mini-Mental State Examination scores (OR, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.17; p < 0.001) and low 36-item short-form (OR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.80 to 0.98; p = 0.002).

CONCLUSION

Depression may not be significantly associated with asthma and allergic diseases in elderly populations, but cough is a significant factor affecting depression.