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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1547860
This article is part of the Research Topic Mental Health of Vulnerable Groups: Predictors, Mechanisms, and Interventions View all 14 articles
Depression and its influencing factors among elderly patients with chronic pain in China: an empirical analysis based on CHARLS data
Provisionally accepted- 1 Department of Public Health, Shenzhen Mental Health Center/ Shenzhen Kangning Hospital, Shenzhen, China
- 2 Department of Geriatric Psychiatry, Shenzhen Mental Health Center/ Shenzhen Kangning Hospital, Shenzhen, China
- 3 Department of Medical Treatment, Shenzhen Mental Health Center/ Shenzhen Kangning Hospital, Shenzhen, China
- 4 Department of Psychiatric Prevention and Treatment, Baise Second People's Hospital, Baise, China
Background: China's aging problem is intensifying, the elderly not only face a variety of chronic physical diseases and pain, but also have higher levels of depression than other age groups. This study explores the related factors of depression in elderly patients with chronic pain in China and provide evidence and reference for the formulation of intervention policies and measures.Methods: Using the data of the fifth wave of national survey conducted by the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2020, a total of 10,581 elderly patients with chronic pain were selected as research objects, and their depression status was measured by the Depression Scale (CES-D). Chi-square test and multiple Logistic regression were used to analyze the main factors affecting depression in elderly patients with chronic pain.Results: The results of multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed: gender (female: OR=1.28, 95%CI=1.16-1.41), age (≥75 years old: OR=0.49, 95%CI=0.42-0.56), spouse/partner living together (no: OR=1.19, 95%CI=1.06-1.32), place of residence (rural: OR=1.19, 95%CI=1.06-1.32), education level (High school and above: OR=1.19, 95%CI=1.06-1.32); satisfaction with child relationship (satisfaction: OR=0.22, 95%CI=0.18-0.28), smoking (no: OR=0.60, 95%CI=0.41-0.86), Internet use in the past month (Yes: OR=0.77, 95%CI=0.68-0.86), nap duration (1~<2 h: OR=0.75, 95%CI=0.66-0.85; ≥2 h: OR=0.75, 95%CI=0.66-0.85), night sleep duration (6~<8 h: OR=0.75, 95%CI=0.66-0.85; ≥8 h: OR=0.56, 95%CI=0.49-0.63), BADL damaged (Yes: OR=1.45, 95%CI=1.31-1.62), IADL damaged (Yes: OR=1.31, 95%CI=1.17-1.45), received outpatient services in the past month (yes: OR=1.18, 95%CI=1.06-1.31), pain (Quite a Bit/Very: OR=1.41, 95%CI=1.26-1.58), number of body parts that feeling pain(1~3: OR=1.42, 95%CI=1.27-1.60; 4-6: OR=1.76, 95%CI=1.51-2.04; 7~9: OR=2.21, 95%CI=1.82-2.67; ≥10: OR=2.63, 95%CI=2.15-3.22) are the influencing factors of depressive symptoms in elderly patients with chronic pain (P<0.05).Conclusion: The incidence of depressive symptoms in elderly patients with chronic pain is 31.7%, and their depression status is affected by various factors. Medical and health institutions and policy makers should pay attention to the mental health of these elderly people, and take targeted measures to improve health education, disease treatment, pain management, sleep improvement, family support, and other aspects according to their characteristics.
Keywords: Elderly, Pain, Depression, influencing factor, CHARLS
Received: 18 Dec 2024; Accepted: 26 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Huang, Sun, Gui and Wang. 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:
Yongjun Wang, Department of Geriatric Psychiatry, Shenzhen Mental Health Center/ Shenzhen Kangning Hospital, Shenzhen, China
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