Abstract
Health status is widely regarded as a correlate of depressive symptoms. However, health assessments based on clinical diagnosis in rural areas with poor medical conditions are very limited. Self-rated health (SRH) serves as a simple and convenient evaluation indicator, which may be used as an independent predictor of depressive symptoms. To confirm the relationship between SRH and depressive symptoms in rural adults, a longitudinal survey of rural households in China was conducted using the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) from 2012 to 2016. Propensity score matching and logistic regression analysis were used to explore the association. After data cleansing, 3,127 pairs (6,254 participants) aged 16 and older followed for 4 years were enrolled, of which the average age was (50.02 ± 14.19) years old, and the proportions of male and female were 48.64% and 51.36%, respectively. The incidence rate of depressive symptoms within 4 years was 30.86% (95%CI: 29.24–32.48) in the group with fair or poor SRH, and 21.59% (95%CI: 20.14–23.03) in the group with good SRH. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (χ<sup>2</sup> = 69.51, <i>P</i> < 0.001). The results of univariate unconditional logistic regression analysis showed that there was a correlation between SRH and depressive symptoms in rural adults aged 30 and above (OR = 1.65, 95%CI: 1.46–1.85, <i>P</i> < 0.001). Thus, a simple and practical assessment tool based on SRH and other indicators should be established for early prevention and intervention in rural primary mental health care.
Highlights
Depression is one of the key research themes in the fields of mental and public health
3,127 participants with good Self-rated health (SRH) and 3,127 participants with fair or poor SRH were further assigned to subpopulations, with an average age of (50.02 ± 14.19) years
46.51% were male and 53.49% were female among the participants with fair or poor SRH, against 55.12% and 44.88% separately among the participants with good SRH
Summary
Depression is one of the key research themes in the fields of mental and public health. According to the report Depression and other common mental disorders released by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2017, more than 300 million people worldwide are suffering from depression. In developed and developing countries, depression places a heavy burden on families, communities and health services [2]. In China, the lifetime prevalence of depression is 6.9%, and the 12-month prevalence is 3.6% [3], among which rural residents are the high-risk group presenting with depressive symptoms [4]. Data show that the incidence of depression in rural areas is significantly higher than that in urban areas [5,6], as rural residents in China are more likely to be faced with social structural pressures [7,8]
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