[Associations between multimorbidity patterns and depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older adults: a latent...

To examine the association between different multimorbidity patterns and depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older adults.

Data were obtained from 491 middle-aged and older adults with multimorbidity in the 2020 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify distinct multimorbidity patterns. Logistic regression models were subsequently applied to assess the associations between latent classes and depressive symptoms, adjusting for age, sex, marital status, residence, number of chronic conditions, and income.

The prevalence of depressive symptoms among individuals with multimorbidity was 37.1%. Three multimorbidity patterns were identified: a cardiometabolic pattern, a digestive-musculoskeletal pattern, and a respiratory pattern. After adjusting for covariates, significant differences in depressive symptoms were observed across patterns. Compared with the cardiometabolic pattern, individuals in the digestive-musculoskeletal pattern had a higher likelihood of depressive symptoms (OR = 1.795, 95% CI: 1.14-2.82), while no significant difference was found for the respiratory pattern. In addition, having four or more chronic conditions (OR = 1.996, 95% CI: 1.15-3.47) and being aged ≥70 years (OR = 2.817, 95% CI: 1.24-6.68) were significantly associated with higher odds of depressive symptoms.

Multimorbidity patterns are associated with depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older adults. The digestive-musculoskeletal pattern is particularly linked to a higher risk of depression. These findings suggest that the impact of multimorbidity on mental health depends not only on the number of chronic conditions but also on specific disease combinations.