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. 2023 Sep-Oct;27(9):1684-1691.
doi: 10.1080/13607863.2022.2163978. Epub 2023 Jan 2.

Hospitalization's association with depression in adults over 50 years old: does living arrangement matter? Findings from the Health and Retirement Study

Rachel Missell-Gray  1   2 , Kimberly Van Orden  1 , Adam Simning  1   3
Affiliations

Hospitalization's association with depression in adults over 50 years old: does living arrangement matter? Findings from the Health and Retirement Study

Rachel Missell-Gray et al. Aging Ment Health. 2023 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

Objectives: To examine how living arrangements are associated with depressive symptoms in late middle-life and older adults following hospitalization within the last two years.

Design: We used the 2016 wave of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative survey of adults over 50 years old living in the United States.

Methods: The dependent variable was whether HRS participants screened positive for having depressive symptoms. The primary independent variable was self-reported hospitalization in the prior two years. We stratified bivariate analyses and multivariate logistic regressions by living arrangement to examine hospitalizations' association with depressive symptoms.

Results: Depressive symptoms were less prevalent among participants who were married or partnered and living with a partner (14.0%) compared to those who were not married or partnered and were living with others (31.7%) and were not married or partnered and were living alone (27.8%). In multivariate analyses stratified by living arrangement, however, hospitalization was associated with depressive symptoms for those married or partnered and living with a partner (OR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.14-1.69) but not for those who were not married and living with other(s) (OR = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.65-1.18) and not married or partnered and living alone (OR = 1.06, 95% CI: 0.82-1.36).

Conclusions: Late middle-life and older adults residing with spouses or cohabitating appear at risk for having depressive symptoms following a hospitalization. A better understanding of how relationships and living arrangements may affect depression risk in the context of an acute medical illness is needed to identify points of intervention.

Keywords: Depression; caregiving; disability; living arrangement; post-acute care.

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