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. 2022 Apr 11;17(4):e0266950.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266950. eCollection 2022.

Association between self-care disability and depressive symptoms among middle-aged and elderly Chinese people

Ting-Yu Mu  1   2 , Ri-Xiang Xu  3 , Jia-Yi Xu  1 , Die Dong  1 , Zhi-Nan Zhou  1 , Jia-Ning Dai  1 , Cui-Zhen Shen  1
Affiliations

Association between self-care disability and depressive symptoms among middle-aged and elderly Chinese people

Ting-Yu Mu et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objective: In the context of an increased focus on geriatric depression in recent years, this study examined the associations between different types of self-care disability, the number of self-care disabilities, and depressive symptoms among middle-aged and elderly Chinese people.

Method: The data for this study were extracted from the follow-up survey (conducted in 2018) of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). The sample comprised 10808 participants aged 45 years and older. The Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scale and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CESD-10) Scale were used to assess self-care disability and depressive symptoms, respectively.

Result: The prevalence of depressive symptoms and self-care disability among the surveyed residents was 45.1% and 23.4%, respectively. Overall, there was a significant positive association between self-care disability and depressive symptoms. Participants who reported having a self-care disability in relation dressing, bathing, transferring in and out of bed, using the toilet, and controlling urination and defecation were found to have a significantly higher risk of depressive symptoms. In addition, participants with a greater cumulative quantity of self-care disabilities had a higher risk of depressive symptoms, and higher CESD-10 scores.

Conclusion: Self-care disability is a risk factor for depressive symptoms among middle-aged and elderly Chinese people. A positive correlation between the number of self-care disabilities and the risk of depressive symptoms was found.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Flowchart of subject recruitment and eligibility.
Fig 2
Fig 2. The relationship between the number of self-care disabilities and CESD-10 scores.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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