Latent class analysis of psychological distress among older adults with multiple chronic conditions in communities / 中华护理杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore latent class of psychological distress among the elderly with multiple chronic conditions in the community and to analyze differences in demographic and alexithymia characteristics across class.Methods A total of 685 urban and rural elderly with chronic disease co-morbidities in 6 prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu Province were selected for the study using the General Information Questionnaire,the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales-21,and the Toronto Alexithymia scale from November 2022 to March 2023 using a convenience sampling method.Results A total of 662 older adults with multiple chronic conditions were finally investigated with a total psychological distress score 30.00(16.00,52.00).Psychological distress manifested itself in 4 different potential categories named"stress-depressive"(19.9%),"low distress"(26.0%),"stress-anxiety"(23.4%),and"overall high distress"(30.7%).The comparison of the different psychological distress categories with respect to age group,marital status,residential status,financial stress of illness,acute events within 1 year,and self-perceived health status showed statistically significant differences(P＜0.05).The comparison of alexithymia scores for the 4 potential categories showed statistically significant differences(F=136.544,P＜0.001).Conclusion Psychological distress in older adults with multiple chronic diseases has distinct categorical features,and alexithymia varies across different categories of psychological distress.Healthcare professionals can adopt targeted interventions according to different categories of chronic disease co-morbidities in order to reduce their psychological distress,and at the same time they should focus on older adults with the alexithymia of"stress-depressive"and"overall high distress".