Trends in prevalence of depression symptoms among middle-aged and elderly residents in China from 2011 to 2018 / 预防医学

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To investigate the trends in prevalence of depression symptoms among middle-aged and elderly residents at ages of 45 years and older in China from 2011 to 2018, so as to provide insights into depression prevention and control among middle-aged and elderly residents. @*Methods@#Demographic features and evaluation data of depressive symptoms were collected from middle-aged and elderly residents at ages of 45 years and older recorded during four follow-ups in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), and the depressive symptoms were screened using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Following sampling weights, non-response weights, and post-stratification weighting, the detection of depressive symptoms was analyzed among the middle-aged and elderly residents with different demographics, and the trends in prevalence of depressive symptoms were identified using annual percent change (APC). @*Results@#A total of 48 223 middle-aged and elderly residents were enrolled, including 12 624, 10 427, 12 144, and 13 028 residents in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2018, with mean ages of (58.8±9.4), (58.9±9.2), (59.0±9.2), and (61.1±9.2) years, respectively. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 34.5% (95%CI 33.3%-35.8%), 29.6% (95%CI 28.5%- 30.8%), 30.6% (95%CI 29.4%-31.8%), and 35.0% (95%CI 33.6%-36.4%) among middle-aged and elderly residents in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2018, respectively, with no remarkable changing trends seen (APC=0.4%, t=0.188, P=0.868). Higher detection was seen among residents at advanced ages, among women than among men, among rural residents than among urban residents, among residents with lower educational levels, among widowed and unmarried residents than among married residents, among unemployed residents than among employees, and among residents that had lower per capita personal consumption expenditures than mean expenditures than among residents that had higher per capita personal consumption expenditures than mean expenditures (all P<0.05). @*Conclusions@#There were no obvious trends in prevalence of depressive symptoms among middle-aged and elderly residents in China from 2011 to 2018, and individuals with advanced ages, women, urban residents and those with low educational and economic levels should be given a high priority for depression control.