scholarly journals Comparison of Depressive Symptoms and its Influencing Factors among the Elderly in Urban and Rural Areas: Based on a Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in China

Author(s):  
Haixia Liu ◽  
Xiaojing Fan ◽  
Huanyuan Luo ◽  
Zhongliang Zhou ◽  
Chi Shen ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The imbalance between urban and rural areas leads to heterogeneous loci of depression in urban and rural elderly and affects the depressive symptoms of elderly by changing the social environment. Depression amongst the elderly population is a worldwide public health problem, especially in China. Affected by the urban-rural dual structure, depressive symptoms of the elderly in urban and rural areas are different.Methods: Based on the data of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2018y, 7690 elderly people aged ≥ 60 years were included in the final analysis. Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10) were used to measure the depressive symptoms, and the generalized linear model (GLM) and binary logistic regression were employed to assess the association between urban and rural source and depression.Results: Depressive symptoms of the elderly in urban and rural areas were significantly different (P<0.001). GLM showed that the risk of depression in the rural elderly is 1.52 times (OR=1.52, 95% CI: 1.32 to 1.76) that of the urban elderly. The result of logistic regression showed that the influencing factors of depression in urban and rural areas were different. Gender, education level, life satisfaction, chronic disease and social activities were influencing factors of depression among the urban elderly. But for the rural elderly, influencing factors of depression were gender, education level, minorities, self-reported health status, life satisfaction, sleep duration (≤5h), chronic disease, social activities and income (except for pension). Conclusions: The results of our study indicated that targeted and precise intervention strategies to prevent depression should be proposed for the urban and rural elderly respectively.

Author(s):  
Haixia Liu ◽  
Xiaojing Fan ◽  
Huanyuan Luo ◽  
Zhongliang Zhou ◽  
Chi Shen ◽  
...  

Depression amongst the elderly population is a worldwide public health problem, especially in China. Affected by the urban–rural dual structure, depressive symptoms of the elderly in urban and rural areas are significantly different. In order to compare depressive symptoms and its influencing factors among the elderly in urban and rural areas, we used the data from the fourth wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). A total of 7690 participants at age 60 or older were included in this study. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the prevalence estimate of depression between urban and rural elderly (χ2 = 10.9.76, p < 0.001). The prevalence of depression among rural elderly was significantly higher than that of urban elderly (OR-unadjusted = 1.88, 95% CI: 1.67 to 2.12). After adjusting for gender, age, marital status, education level, minorities, religious belief, self-reported health, duration of sleep, life satisfaction, chronic disease, social activities and having income or not, the prevalence of depression in rural elderly is 1.52 times (OR = 1.52, 95% CI: 1.32 to 1.76) than that of urban elderly. Gender, education level, self-reported health, duration of sleep, chronic diseases were associated with depression in both urban and rural areas. In addition, social activities were connected with depression in urban areas, while minorities, marital status and having income or not were influencing factors of depression among the rural elderly. The interaction analysis showed that the interaction between marital status, social activities and urban and rural sources was statistically significant (divorced: coefficient was 1.567, p < 0.05; social activities: coefficient was 0.340, p < 0.05), while gender, education level, minorities, self-reported health, duration of sleep, life satisfaction, chronic disease, social activities having income or not and urban and rural sources have no interaction (p > 0.05). Thus, it is necessary to propose targeted and precise intervention strategies to prevent depression after accurately identifying the factors’ effects.


Author(s):  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Dan Li ◽  
Jianmin Gao

Background: China is becoming an aging society, and the proportion of the population aged 60 years and above is increasing. There is a dualistic urban–rural economic structure between urban and rural areas in China, but there are few comparative health studies on the self-assessed health (SAH) status of the elderly between urban and rural areas. The aim of this study is to explore the SAH status of the elderly in China, and to identify the health disparity between the urban and rural elderly. Methods: The data from the fourth wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2018 were adopted. A total of 9630 participants aged 60 and above were included in this study. SAH was used as the indicator, measuring the health status. Fairlie decomposition analysis was conducted to find the SAH disparity. Results: The proportion of good SAH of the rural elderly (24.01%) was significantly higher than the urban elderly (19.99%). The association of SAH was widely different between the rural and urban elderly. There was a stronger association between SAH and sleeping time in the urban elderly (Odds ratios (OR) = 3.347 of 4–8 hours; OR = 3.337 of above 8 hours) than the rural elderly (OR = 1.630 of 4–8 hours; OR = 2.293 of above 8 hours). Smoking and social activity were significant only in the urban elderly, while region and assets were significant only in the rural elderly. Drinking (11.45%), region (−33.92%), and assets (73.50%) were the main factors contributing to the urban–rural health disparities. Conclusions: This is the first comparative study examining SAH disparity, focusing on the elderly aged 60 and above in China. From the perspective of drinking, region, and assets, our study highlighted substantial urban–rural health disparities, and provided evidence for policy making on narrowing the health gap between urban and rural areas in China.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenhua Zheng ◽  
Hong Chen

Abstract Background Although social network is a known determinant of the elderly’s well-being, it is not clear, in urban-rural and age-comparison, what its structural characteristics are and how it works for well-being. The research aims to discuss the features of the elderly’s social network and the social network efficacies on the well-being of older adults in China’s urban and rural areas as well as revealing the urban-rural disparities among the elderly of different age groups. Methods In this study, descriptive statistical analysis and structural equation Modeling (SEM) were used to make a group comparison between the urban and rural elderly of different age groups. All data are quoted from 2014 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS). The survey adopted the multi-stage probability sampling method, targeting Chinese senior citizens aged 60 and above, the ultimate samples totaled 11,511. Results The social network of the elderly in China feature a “reverse structure” in age sequences: with ageing, family network of the elderly expand while their friend network shrink; also, the expansion scale of the rural elderly’s family network is significantly larger than that of the city’s while the shrinkage scale of their friend network is smaller compared with its urban counterpart. The effect of family network on the rural elderly’s well-being shows a remarkable increase with age. However, there is no noticeable change in urban elderly groups of different ages. Conclusion The social network characteristics of the Chinese elderly are different between different age stages. Namely, the family network and the friend network have the “reverse structure “ in age sequences. Meanwhile, the family network and the friend network have different efficacies on the well-being of the elderly in China, and the differences between urban and rural areas are even more obvious. For rural elderly, family network has very important effects on their well-being. Moreover, With the increase of age, family network’s efficacies increase gradually. For urban elderly, comparatively, family network is just as important as friend network.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shekhar Chauhan ◽  
Shubham Kumar ◽  
Ratna Patel ◽  
David Jean Simon ◽  
Aradhana Singh

Abstract Background: While controlling the outbreak of communicable diseases (CDs) remained a priority, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are placing an unavoidable burden on the health and social security system. India, a developing nation in South Asia, has seen an unprecedented economic growth in the past few years; however, it struggled to fight the burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Therefore, this study aimed at examining the burden of CDs and NCDs among elderly in India.Methods: Data from Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI Wave-I, 2017-18) were drawn to conduct this study. Response variables were the occurrence of CDs and NCDs. The bi-variate and binary logistic regression were used to predict the association between communicable and non-communicable diseases by various socio-demographic and health parameters. Furthermore, to understand the inequalities of communicable and non-communicable diseases in urban and rural areas, the Fairlie decomposition technique was used to predict the contribution toward rural-urban inequalities in CDs and NCDs.Results: Prevalence of communicable diseases was higher among uneducated elderly than those with higher education (31.9% vs. 17.3%); however, the prevalence of non-communicable diseases was higher among those with higher education (67.4% vs. 47.1%) than uneducated elderly. The odds of NCDs were higher among female elderly (OR=1.13; C.I. = 1-1.27) than their male counterparts. Similarly, the odds of CDs were lower among urban elderly (OR=0.70; C.I. = 0.62-0.81) than rural elderly, and odds of NCDs were higher among urban elderly (OR=1.85; C.I. = 1.62-2.10) than their rural counterparts. Results found that education (50%) contributes nearly half of the rural-urban inequality in the prevalence of CDs among the elderly. Education status and current working status were the two significant predictors of widening rural-urban inequality in the prevalence of NCDs among the elderly.Conclusion: The burden of both CD and NCD among the elderly population requires immediate intervention. The needs of men and women and urban and rural elderly must be addressed through appropriate effort. In a developing country like India, preventive measures, rather than curative measures of communicable diseases, will be cost-effective and helpful.


2008 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong-Cheon Lee ◽  
Jung-Ah Park ◽  
Nam-Kyou Bae ◽  
Young-Chae Cho

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengbin Liu ◽  
Liyuan Zhang ◽  
Farooq Ahmed ◽  
Muhammad Shahid ◽  
Xiaohua Wang ◽  
...  

Background: Although several studies have shown an association of family care with a high level of depressive symptoms, the relationship between them remains indistinguishable.Objective: This study aims to examine the associations between family care, economic stress, and depressive symptoms among Chinese adults in urban and rural areas during the COVID-19 outbreak.Methods: Based on cross-sectional data collected through online surveys from February 1st to 10th 2020 in China the present study recruited 2,858 adults. It used multiple linear regression to examine the association between family care and depressive symptoms, while economic stress was examined as moderators on the above relationship.Results: The results showed that caring for both the elderly and children was significantly associated with higher depressive symptoms compared with non-caregivers (B = 2.584, 95%CI: 1.254, 3.915), and a similar result was also found in urban areas. Also, caring for the elderly only was also had a higher level of depressive symptoms than non-caregivers in rural areas (B = 3.135, 95%CI: 0.745, 5.525). Meeting the care needs was significantly associated with lower depressive symptoms compared with unmet care needs, while for rural caregivers, the results were not significant. Besides, economic stress strengthened the effect of family care needs on depressive symptoms for sandwich-generation caregivers who provide care to both the elderly and children (B = 0.605, 95%CI: 0.077, 1.134). While in rural areas, the moderation effects of economic stress were only found for elderly caregivers (B = 1.106, 95%CI: 0.178, 2.035).Conclusion: These findings suggest that we should pay more attention to the family caregiver's mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, more effective policies should be developed to provide financial support for family caregivers, especially for sandwich-generation caregivers and rural elderly caregivers.


Author(s):  
Ji-Myung Kim ◽  
Yun-Jung Bae

We aimed to evaluate the intake of minerals (calcium, phosphorous, sodium, and potassium) in the urban and rural elderly and explore the adequacy of intake and food sources for each mineral using nationwide big data. The study used data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) between 2013 and 2016. We analyzed 5292 elderly individuals that were aged 65 years and older (2271 men, 3021 women). Daily calcium, phosphorous, sodium, and potassium intake, and they were analyzed using the 24-h dietary recall method. Additionally, the adequacy of intake and food sources for each mineral was analyzed. Blood triglyceride level was significantly higher in rural elderly than in urban elderly. The intake of calcium and potassium per 1000 kcal of energy intake was significantly lower in the rural elderly, and the proportion of participants with calcium intake below the Estimated Average Requirement was significantly higher in the rural elderly than in the urban elderly. The intake of calcium, phosphorous, and potassium in the rural elderly was lower than that in the urban elderly. These results can be used as basic data when making social and environmental policies for the health of the elderly and when providing targeted dietary education for the management of chronic diseases for the elderly.


Author(s):  
Chensong Lin ◽  
Longfeng Wu

Many empirical studies have shown evidence of multiple health benefits provided by green and blue spaces. Despite the importance of these spaces, investigations are scarce in details for blue spaces rather than green. Moreover, most research has focused on developed regions. A limited number of studies on blue spaces can be found in China with a focus on the city level. Outcomes have been mixed due to varying research scales, methodologies, and definitions. This study relies on a national-level social survey to explore how the self-rated health (SRH) of senior individuals is associated with local green and blue space availability in urban and rural areas. Results indicate that the coverage ratio of overall green spaces and waterbodies around a resident’s home have marginal effects on SRH status in both urban and rural areas. In urban areas, living close to a park can is marginally beneficial for older people’s health. Regarding different types of blue spaces, the presence of a major river (within 0.3–0.5 km) or coastline (within 1 km and 1–5 km) in the vicinity of home negatively affects SRH among the elderly in urban areas. Close proximity to lakes and other types of waterbodies with a water surface larger than 6.25 ha did not significantly influence SRH. These findings not only evaluate general health impacts of green/blue space development on senior populations across the county but inform decision makers concerning the health-promoting qualities and features of different green/blue spaces to better accommodate an aging population in the era of urbanization.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document