Burden and correlates of geriatric depression in the Uyghur elderly population, observation from Xinjiang, China.

BACKGROUND: With the gradual aging of the population, geriatric depression has become a major public health issue in China owing to its overall upward trend and associated negative socio-economic impact. Dearth of information regarding the burden and correlates of geriatric depression among Uyghur minority population in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, called for a comprehensive survey involving representative sample for designing efficient targeted intervention to control this disabling disease. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1329 consenting Uyghur elderly in 2011 in six randomly selected communities/villages in Xinjiang. Information about socio-demographics, behavior, negative life-events, satisfaction regarding income/quality of life and other chronic diseases were collected while assessment of geriatric depression was done using Geriatric Mental State Schedule (GMS). RESULTS: Among these participants, majority were currently married, had attended elementary school or less, had an average annual family income of less than 3000 Yuan/person, had strong religious beliefs while 10.61% (2.77% in urban and 23.60% in rural area) had geriatric depression (5.91% among male and 14.58% among females). 61.83% were suffering from other chronic diseases, 96.16% could take care of themselves and 39.28% had experienced negative events during last two years. Religious belief (AOR = 3.92, 95% CI 1.18-13.03), satisfaction regarding quality of life (AOR = 0.53, 95% CI 0.37-0.84) and income (AOR = 0.75, 95% CI 0.35-1.60), suffering from more chronic diseases (AOR = 1.70, 95% CI 1.42-2.04), experiencing three or more negative events (AOR = 1.72, 95% CI 0.92-3.22) and lack of ability to take self-care (AOR = 2.20, 95% CI 1.09-4.48) were all associated with having geriatric depression with or without adjustment for gender, education and occupation. CONCLUSION: High prevalence of geriatric depression among Uyghur elderly in Xinjiang seemed to call for urgent interventions, specifically targeting rural residents, who experienced more negative life-events, were suffering from chronic diseases and were dissatisfied with their income and quality of life.

Distribution and determinants of non communicable diseases among elderly Uyghur ethnic group in Xinjiang, China.

BACKGROUND: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are showing an increasing trend globally as well as in China. Elderly population are more prone to these NCDs. Situation in China is worse owing to the higher proportion of geriatric population. Burden of NCDs and the role of their socio-demographic and behavioral predictors among these elderly and more so among the ethnic minority groups among them, need to be investigated specifically, owing to their distinct genetic background, lifestyles and behavior. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1329 randomly selected persons of Uyghur ethnicity, aged 60 years or more in Xinjiang, the largest administrative division in China to measure the burden of NCDs, understand the distribution of socio-demographic, behavioral and life event-related potential correlates of them and to estimate the association of the NCDs with these correlates. RESULTS: Among these participants 54.2% were female, 86.8% were married and more than half had only attended elementary school or less. 41.46% was suffering from at least one NCD. 20.22% had one NCD, 12.11% had two and 8.58% had three or more. 27.3% had hypertension, 4.06% had diabetes, 6.02% had hyperlipidemia, 7.37% had angina, 14.52% had cardiovascular diseases, 11.59% had any kind of cancers and 9.78% had chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. Rural residents (OR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.17-1.80, AOR = 2.00, 95% CI: 1.53-2.61) and current smokers had higher odds of having more NCDs (AOR = 1.53, 95% CI: 1.00-2.34). Additionally not being satisfied with current life, not being able to take care of self in daily life, currently not being involved in farm work, less intake of fresh vegetables, fruits and garlic, too less or too much salt intake, not having hobbies were found to be positively associated with having more NCDs. CONCLUSION: Implementation of effective intervention strategies to promote healthy life styles among the Uyghur elderly population of China seems urgent.

[The risk factors for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Xinjiang rural areas].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the risk factors for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Xinjiang rural areas. METHODS: This was a population-based and cross-sectional survey on prevalence of COPD in Xinjiang from December 2007 to December 2010. The cluster random sampling method was performed to collect the data from 3575 people in rural areas in southern (mainly with the Uygur nationality and Han nationality) and northern (mainly with Hazakh nationality and Han nationality) parts of Xinjiang. The subjects were interviewed with questionnaires and tested with spirometry. A post-bronchodilator FEV(1)/FVC < 70% was defined as diagnostic of COPD. RESULTS: Completed data were obtained from 3489 participants. The average prevalence of COPD was 4.0% (138/3489). Of the 138 COPD patients, only 20 (14.5%, 20/138) had received diagnosis and treatment. The prevalence of COPD in Uygurs was higher (5.1%, 90/1774) than that in Hazakhs (3.3%, 26/784) and that in Hans (2.4%, 22/921). The prevalence of COPD in population older than 50 years increased significantly (> 10%, 94/743). Logistic regression model was conducted and statistical association of COPD was found with Uygurs (OR = 2.79, 95%CI: 1.71 - 4.57), older than 30 years (OR = 3.41, 95%CI: 1.62 - 7.18), family history of respiratory diseases (OR = 1.68, 95%CI: 1.11 - 2.53), and cooking behavior (OR = 1.47, 95%CI: 1.02 - 2.12). CONCLUSIONS: Higher risk for COPD was related with Uygurs, older age, family history of respiratory diseases, and cooking behavior. Whether difference in the prevalence of COPD among different ethnic is related to genetic background, and the relationship between biofuels and other risk factors for COPD need further study.