How do different chronic condition comorbidities affect changes in depressive symptoms of middle aged and older...

Different types of chronic condition comorbidities can have dissimilar effects on the improvements or deterioration of mental health in older adults. This study aims to examine the impacts of different types of chronic conditions on inter-temporal trends of depressive symptoms.

Data on 11,457 adults from age 45 in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2011-2015 were used to estimate the prevalence of comorbidities. We used latent class analysis to identify patterns of how depressive symptoms changed over time, then estimated the odds ratios of worsening or improved levels of depression by types of chronic conditions.

Prevalence of depression differed by types of chronic condition comorbidities. Dyslipidemia, asthma, liver disease, kidney disease, stomach or other digestive disease, and arthritis or rheumatism were significant risk factors for worsening of depressive symptoms over time among people with low levels of depressive symptoms at baseline. Among people with higher levels of depression at baseline, arthritis, stroke, digestive, and memory-related diseases were risk factors for not improving.

Findings are unlikely to be generalizable to subpopulations with severe levels of physical or mental disabilities as they are unlikely to be captured in the surveys.

Given these specific physical health conditions' effects on mental health, clinicians can consider patients' mental health in their repertoire with regards to particular diseases.