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The prevalence and correlates of depression and anxiety symptoms among older adults in Shenzhen, China

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Jan 30, 2024 version files 267.92 KB

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms among older adults in an urban district in China, as well as their associated factors.

Participants: A total of 5,372 community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years or older were initially recruited. Ultimately, 5,331 participants met the inclusion criteria and were included in this study.

Methods: Participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, along with assessments including the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Scale-7, UCLA Loneliness Simplification Scale, Insomnia Severity Index Scale, Community Dementia Brief Screening Scale, and the 8-item Dementia Screening Questionnaire. Statistical analyses included the Shapiro‒Wilk test, independent t-test, Wilcoxon rank test, c2 test, and univariate and multivariate linear regression analysis.

Results: The prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms among older adults in Shenzhen communities was 10.4% and 11.3%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, age (B=-0.01, P<0.05), relatively poor health status in the past year (B=1.00, P<0.01), poor health status in the past year (B=2.40, P<0.01), ISI score (B=0.21, P<0.01), AD8 score (B=0.22, P<0.01), ULS score (B=0.24, P<0.01) were significantly associated with the severity of depression symptom, Compared to their respective reference categories, relatively poor health status in the past year (B=0.50, P<0.01), poor health status in the past year (B=1.32, P<0.01), ISI score (B=0.23, P<0.01), sleep duration (B=0.05, P<0.01), AD8 score (B=0.21, P<0.01), CSID score (B=0.13, P<0.01), ULS score (B=0.22, P<0.01) were significantly associated with the severity of anxiety symptom.

Conclusions: We observed a high prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms among older adults in this study. The existing welfare system and infrastructure should remain and targeted mental health programs addressing the identified risk factors should be proposed.