Gender-based depression factors of older adults in England during the COVID-19 pandemic
Date
2023-08-29
Authors
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Publisher
University of Sheffield
Abstract
Abstract
Background The proportion of older adults in the United Kingdom is increasing. In
addition, 487,100 older adults experience a major depressive disorder and 191,740
experience chronic depressive disorder. Depression was one of the significant mental
health issues that attracted increasing attention soon after the spread of the Covid-19
pandemic. Several studies conducted among older adults investigated the change in
depressive symptoms and have yielded inconsistent findings. However, studies on
gender-based depression factors for older adults in the UK during the pandemic are
limited. This study aims to examine differences in depression depending on gender and
other participant characteristics and identify factors related to depression by gender
among older adults in the UK.
Methods This study conducted a cross-sectional analysis using data from the English
Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) Covid-19 sub-study (wave 1). Depressive symptoms
were assessed by the 8-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D)
scale. Differences in depression during the pandemic periods and factors related to
depression by gender were assessed by chi-square tests and binary logistic regression
using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software (SPSS).
Results Seven thousand and forty participants were included; 56.5% of the sample were
women, 43.5% were men, and the most frequently occurring age group was people aged
60–69. The depression scores among women were significantly higher than those of men.
Gender was statistically associated with depression. Self-reported health, quality of sleep
and social isolation were the most significant predictors of depression for both older men
and women. However, current employment status due to COVID-19 and low educational
level were specifically related to depression in older women. For older men, alcohol
drinking and lower communication with family were significant factors of depression.
Conclusions Our results suggest women experienced higher scores of depressions than
men in response to the pandemic. However, the differences in factors related to
depression among men and women were almost similar. These findings underscore the
necessity to assess and intervene with the factors affecting depression to preserve the
psychological well-being of older adults. Nevertheless, future policies should also
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consider developing ways that support the influence groups to limit the adverse impact
on mental health and maintain optimal mental health status during the pandemic crisis.
Description
Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic, Gender-based, Depression, Older Adult