[Depression status and its influencing factors among the elderly aged 60 years and above in three provinces of China]

Objective: The survey learned about the current status of depression in community's elderly aged 60 years and older and explored its influencing factors. Methods: Respondents from the "Prevention and Intervention of Key Diseases in the Elderly" project used a multi-stage stratified cluster random sampling method to complete the depression screening of 14 335 ≥60-year-old elderly people in 16 counties and districts Liaoning, Henan, and Guangdong provinces in 2019. Through the questionnaire survey on the demographic characteristics of the subjects, whether they live with their families or interact with neighbors, daily exercise, cognitive function, and activity of daily living (ADL), the PHQ-9 depression screening scale was used to assess the depression status of the elderly in the last fortnight. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of depression in the elderly. Results: The prevalence of depressive symptoms among the elderly in Liaoning province, Henan province, and Guangdong province was 15.45%, and those in the three provinces were 18.17%, 18.87% and 9.93%, respectively. There were differences between urban and rural areas in the detection rate of depressive symptoms among the elderly in different regions, among which Henan: 17.09% vs. 20.61%; Guangdong province: 7.99% vs. 11.03%, the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the detection rate of depressive symptoms in older women was higher than that in men (OR=1.76, 95%CI: 1.58-1.96), in those divorced or separated (OR=2.08, 95%CI: 1.01-4.30), with cognitive dysfunction (OR=1.78, 95%CI: 1.59-1.98) or impaired essential ability of daily living (BADL) (OR=1.74, 95%CI: 1.23-2.46). The impaired instrumental ability of daily living (IADL) (OR=2.23, 95%CI: 1.97-2.54) was a risk factor for depression in the elderly (P<0.05), and the impact of IADL impairment on depression in the elderly was higher than that of BADL impairment (2.23 vs. 1.74). Results also showed that factors as: 80 years old and above (OR=0.82, 95%CI: 0.68-0.99), living with family members (OR=0.67, 95%CI: 0.57-0.80), interacting with neighbors (OR=0.86, 95%CI: 0.76-0.98), exercise multiple times per week (OR=0.82, 95%CI: 0.69-0.96), and exercise almost every day (OR=0.63, 95%CI: 0.56-0.70) were protective for depression in the elderly (P<0.05). Conclusions: The detection rate of depressive symptoms in the elderly aged 60 and above in the community is relatively high in China. Gender, marital status, social interaction, physical exercise, cognitive function, and ADL are all influencing factors of depression in the elderly. The elderly health care sector should carry out psychological prevention and intervention of critical populations.