Identifying the subgroups of depression trajectories among the middle-aged and older Chinese individuals with chronic diseases: an 8-year follow-up study based on CHARLS
- PMID: 39478749
- PMCID: PMC11524047
- DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1428384
Identifying the subgroups of depression trajectories among the middle-aged and older Chinese individuals with chronic diseases: an 8-year follow-up study based on CHARLS
Abstract
Background: Prior studies have demonstrated a prevalent occurrence of depression among the middle-aged and older Chinese individuals with chronic diseases. Nevertheless, there is limited research on the specific subgroups of depression trajectories within this population and the factors influencing these subgroups.
Objective: To explore the changing trajectory and influencing factors of depression in the middle-aged and older individuals with chronic disease in China, and provide the data reference for the health management of the older adult population in China.
Methods: A longitudinal cohort study was conducted using the data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2018, and 2020. A total of 2,178 participants with complete data were included. The level of depression was evaluated using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10). The Latent Class Mixed Models (LCMM) were employed to estimate trajectories of depressive symptoms. The Kruskal-Wallis H test and the Pearson χ 2 test were used to determine the significant factors affecting trajectory grouping. Subsequently, the multinomial logistic regression model was utilized to perform a multifactorial analysis of the variables impacting the trajectory subgroup of change in depressive symptoms.
Results: The LCMM-analysis revealed three distinct subgroups of depression trajectories: the "Low stable group" comprising 36.7% of the sample, the "Medium growth group" comprising 34.4% of the sample, and the "High growth group" comprising 28.9% of the sample. Among the baseline characteristics of different depression trajectory subgroups, there were significant differences in gender, residence, education, marital status, social activity participation, number of chronic diseases, smoking status, BMI, midday napping (minutes) and nighttime sleep duration (hours). Through multiple logistic regression analysis, our findings demonstrate that among the middle-aged and older Chinese individuals with chronic diseases, the following individuals should be the key groups for the prevention and treatment of depressive symptoms: Those who are young, female, residing in rural areas, having primary school education and below, being single, not participating in social activities, suffering from multiple chronic diseases, and having shorter naps and sleeping at night.
Conclusion: There is heterogeneity in the subgroups of depression trajectories among the Chinese middle-aged and older individuals with chronic diseases. The focus should be on the distinct characteristics of various trajectories of depression within the realm of health management.
Keywords: aging; chronic disease; depression; latent class mixture modeling; trajectories.
Copyright © 2024 Pei, Hu, Lu, Zhou, Shang, Zhang, Yang and Li.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Figures





Similar articles
-
Association of TyG Index and TG/HDL-C Ratio with Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms: Evidence from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study.Nutrients. 2024 Dec 12;16(24):4300. doi: 10.3390/nu16244300. Nutrients. 2024. PMID: 39770920 Free PMC article.
-
Trajectories of depressive symptoms and their predictors in Chinese older population: Growth Mixture model.BMC Geriatr. 2023 Jun 16;23(1):372. doi: 10.1186/s12877-023-04048-0. BMC Geriatr. 2023. PMID: 37328803 Free PMC article.
-
Depressive symptoms trajectories and cardiovascular disease in Chinese middle-aged and older adults: A longitudinal cohort study.J Affect Disord. 2025 Jul 1;380:456-465. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2025.03.154. Epub 2025 Mar 26. J Affect Disord. 2025. PMID: 40154803
-
Prevalence and Factors Associated With Depression and Depressive Symptoms Among Chinese Older Persons: An Integrative Review.Int J Ment Health Nurs. 2025 Feb;34(1):e13484. doi: 10.1111/inm.13484. Int J Ment Health Nurs. 2025. PMID: 39821526 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Longitudinal studies: focus on trajectory analysis in kidney diseases.J Nephrol. 2025 Mar;38(2):435-444. doi: 10.1007/s40620-024-02167-4. Epub 2024 Dec 7. J Nephrol. 2025. PMID: 39644432 Review.
Cited by
-
Joint association of frailty and depression with new-onset digestive disease among elderly Chinese population.Front Nutr. 2025 Jul 28;12:1590194. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1590194. eCollection 2025. Front Nutr. 2025. PMID: 40791236 Free PMC article.
-
Joint association of sleep duration and depression with new-onset hearing loss: a national cohort study.Front Nutr. 2025 Mar 14;12:1528567. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1528567. eCollection 2025. Front Nutr. 2025. PMID: 40161301 Free PMC article.
-
Association of TyG Index and TG/HDL-C Ratio with Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms: Evidence from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study.Nutrients. 2024 Dec 12;16(24):4300. doi: 10.3390/nu16244300. Nutrients. 2024. PMID: 39770920 Free PMC article.
References
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical