Regional and gender disparities in depression and late life expectancy in Chile

Mental health disorders, including depression, are among the top 10 causes of the Global Burden of Disease in 2021. Chile is among the countries where mental health is a public concern due to a significant increase in depression rates in the older adult population in recent years. Considering the accelerated aging process, this study analyses the potential years of depressive symptom-free life expectancy in later life, including long-term conditions, from territorial and gender perspectives.

Panel data were used to track depressive symptomatology in 2,263 older individuals (aged 60 + years) between 2015 and 2020. Multistate Modelling was applied to estimate the free years of depressive symptoms at age 60 in the Chilean regions.

Differences were found in the number of years of depressive symptoms by geographic area, with older women expected to live twice as many years with depressive symptoms as their male counterparts across all regions. Older men living in the southern and northern macro-zones have more free years of depressive symptoms than those in the metropolitan region. Considering chronic health conditions across regions, we found an average decrease of approximately 4 years for men and 5.7 years for women in years of life free of depressive symptomatology due to multimorbidity.

Public health policies in prevention and intervention for depression should integrate territorial differences in non-communicable diseases and gender-sensitive approaches to increase the number of years without depression in later life, with a particular focus on women and those populations living in lower socioeconomic settings.