ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1475037
This article is part of the Research TopicIntegrated Strategies for Lifelong Health: Multidimensional Approaches to Aging and Lifestyle InterventionsView all 12 articles
The association between home modifications and depression among older people in China
Provisionally accepted
- 1Jilin University, Changchun, Hebei Province, China
- 2Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
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Background: As individuals age, their living environments often become inadequate to meet the evolving demands associated with aging. An accommodating home environment is crucial for ensuring the health and well-being of older people. Home modifications effectively create a supportive living space for those who choose to age in place. The objective of the study is to examine the association between home modifications and the depression levels of older people in China.Methods: Using data from 5,706 urban older people collected in the 2018 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS), this study employs a multivariate ordered logistic regression model and propensity score matching (PSM) to assess the association between home modifications and depression levels among older people in China.Results: The results suggest that home modifications are significantly associated with a reduction in depression among older people, with a greater degree of modification correlating with more substantial reductions in depressive symptoms. These findings remained consistent across various models and robustness checks, suggesting that modifying the living environment can significantly benefit older people' mental health.Conclusion: These findings demonstrate the significance of the implementation of home modifications as a practical intervention for improving mental health by reducing depression levels among older people in China.
Keywords: Home modification, Depression, Chinese older people, Propensity score matching (PSM), China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS)
Received: 02 Aug 2024; Accepted: 14 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 LYU and Sun. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xuanru LYU, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, Hebei Province, China
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