Hypertension, socioeconomic status and depressive symptoms in Chinese middle-aged and older adults: Findings from the China health and retirement longitudinal study

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to examine the effect of diagnosed hypertension on depressive symptoms and socioeconomic status (SES) as moderator in the effect in middle-aged and older adults in China.

Methods: We used data from the nationally representative survey of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, including 6273 participants free from depressive symptoms at baseline in 2011-12. We assessed the depressive symptoms based on the 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale. We conducted Cox proportional hazards regression models to examine the effect of baseline diagnosed hypertension status on the subsequent depressive symptoms in 2011-15 with the report of Hazards ratios (HRs).

Results: The diagnosed hypertensive participants were more likely to have depressive symptoms than non-hypertensive peers (HR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.02-1.23) after adjusted for controlled variables. The effect only occurred in the group of low SES, with rural residency (HR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.02-1.26), below-average household income (HR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.02-1.26) and primary school or below educational attainment (HR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.00-1.25).

Limitations: Measures of the onset or duration of hypertension were not included, which may modify the estimated effects on depressive symptoms.

Conclusions: Diagnosed hypertension is a chronic stressor leading to depressive disorders, and the responses to this stressor merely occurred among the low socioeconomic individuals. Our findings underscored the importance of examining the connection between mental and physical health in the context of aging and shed lights on the action to developing strategies for detection and management of hypertension that could cause psychological stress, which may contribute to fighting against depressive symptoms, especially in the low SES population.

Keywords: China; Depressive symptoms; Hypertension; Socioeconomic status.