Abstract
The large-scale COVID-19 pandemic has not only resulted in the risk of death but also augmented the levels of depression in community-dwelling older adults. The present study aimed to investigate the characteristics of depression in Chinese older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic, to examine the association of individual precautionary behavior with older adults’ depression levels, and to identify the moderating role of socioeconomic indicators in the aforementioned association. Five hundred and sixteen older adults were recruited from five cities of Hubei province in China. They were asked to complete an online questionnaire survey. Results showed that 30.8% of participants indicated a significant depressive symptom during the pandemic. Older adults’ depression levels differed significantly in marital status, living situation, education level, household income, subjective health status, and infected cases of acquaintances. Precautionary behavior change showed significant inverse associations with older adults’ depression levels, where household income moderated this relationship. This is the first study to investigate the characteristics, behavioral correlates, and moderators of depression among Chinese older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research findings may provide new insights into interventions and policy-making on individual precautionary behavior and mental health among older adults for future pandemics.
Highlights
In terms of body mass index (BMI), a considerable proportion of elderly participants were overweight or obese (52.1%). Most participants perceived their health status as good or excellent (52.7%), and only 9.7% of participants reported that their family members, friends, or neighbors had been infected with the COVID-19
The interaction of socioeconomic variables with precautionary behaviors was first examined and the results showed that education level was not significantly related with precautionary behaviors for predicting older adult’s depression (β1 = 0.12, t510 = 0.78, p = 0.44, 95%confidence intervals (CIs) = −0.93 to 2.14; β2 = 0.04, t510 = 0.23, p = 0.82, 95%CI = −1.42 to 1.79)
In line with previous evidence in Chinese adolescents and adults, the findings showed that older adults who had higher education levels and higher household income might be less influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating a comparative lower depression level [5,22]
Summary
Since the beginning of December 2019, a novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which was first recognized in Wuhan, Hubei province of China, quickly spread globally, infecting millions of people [1]. In China, there were 91,388 confirmed cases and 4746 fatality cases recorded by 13 October 2020 [2,3]. The COVID-19 imposed enormous burdens on the medical system and exerted catastrophic impacts on social economics [4]. The epidemic led to the risk of death from the viral infection and augmented the comorbidity of mental illnesses (e.g., depressive symptoms) [5,6]. As a vulnerable group that accounted for the highest percentage of deaths
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