Prevalence of depression and its influencing factors in Chinese older population: A Meta-analysis^☆

Abstract

Background:China has become an aged society so that the health status of older population is gaining increasing concern by the researchers overall. Depression especially attracted attention because it impairs the quality of life on one hand and imposes a significant economic burden on both society and families on the other hand. The early detection of depression and comprehensively understanding of factors influencing its prevalence, therefore is crucial. However, currently available research findings lack of consistency. Moreover, much solid evidence from systematic review is insufficient in China.
Objective:To understand the prevalence of depression and its influencing factors among the Chinese older population from 2018 to 2022, providing suggestions on preventing depression among the older population and promoting healthy aging.
Methods:A systematic review was conducted on available published papers on depression of Chinese older population in January 2023, searching multiple online databases including PubMed, EmBase, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang Data, and VIP, covering the period from 2018 to 2022. Two independent reviewers selected the papers, assessed the quality of the studies using the cross-sectional study quality assessment criteria recommended by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality(AHRQ), then extracted data needed. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata 15.0.
Results:A total of 23 papers were included, covering older population of 75,599, with 13,815 among them identified as depressed. The AHRQ quality assessment scores ranged from 5 to 7. Meta-analysis results indicated that the prevalence of depression among the Chinese older population was 20.6 % [95 % CI (16.6 %, 24.8 %)]. Significant risk factors include gender (female) [OR = 1.46, 95 % CI (1.30, 1.64)], older age [OR = 1.48, 95 % CI (1.13, 1.94)], lower educational level [OR = 1.52, 95 % CI (1.32, 1.75)], absence of a spouse [OR = 1.60, 95 % CI (1.35, 1.91)], rural residency [OR = 1.38, 95 % CI (1.14, 1.66)], having chronic disease [OR = 2.75, 95 % CI (2.07, 3.66)], comorbidities [two: OR = 1.84, 95 % CI (1.07, 3.14); three or more: OR = 3.86, 95 % CI (2.89, 5.15)], poor self-rated health [OR = 3.47, 95 % CI (1.14, 10.53)], insomnia [OR = 2.62, 95 % CI (1.88, 3.66)], living alone [OR = 1.86, 95 % CI (1.56, 2.21)], lack of exercise [OR = 1.88, 95 % CI (1.60, 2.20)], and requiring full or partial assistance for daily living [OR = 2.96, 95 % CI (1.12, 7.85)], all of which were statistically significant (P<0.05). Protective factors included alcohol consumption [OR = 0.67, 95 % CI (0.50, 0.88)] and having friends [OR = 0.52, 95 % CI (0.38, 0.71)].
Conclusion:The prevalence of depression among the older population in China is high. Those female, of older age, with a lower level of education, without a spouse, living in rural areas, with chronic diseases and comorbidities, self-rated poor health, suffering from insomnia, living alone, lack of physical exercise, and requiring full or partial assistance for daily living, are more likely to suffer from depression.

Keywords

Depression / Aged / Relevance ratio / Root cause analysis / Meta-analysis

Authors' contributions

Conceptualization, W.Y.; Methodology, W.Y.; Data curation, W.Y. and C.Q.; Formal analysis, W.Y.; Funding acquisition, not applicable; Project administration, not applicable; Resources, not applicable; Supervision, L.L.; Validation, L.L.; Writing—original draft, W.Y. and C.Q.; Writing—review and editing, L.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Funding

This research was supported by grants from Chengdu Medical College (CSXL-212A11).

Acknowledgements

Not applicable.

Authors' other information

Not applicable.

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Funding

Chengdu Medical College(CSXL-212A11)