Abstract
China is the country with the largest population of older persons. Depression stands out as the most common mental health issue among older adults, a trend expected to increase as societies continue to age. With the global increase in depression and depressive symptoms among this demographic, the resulting disease burden poses a significant challenge for Chinese health and social care systems. To synthesize the empirical literature on the prevalence factors of depression and depressive symptoms in Chinese older adults, an integrative literature review was conducted informed by the guidelines of Whittemore and Knafl. The literature search encompassed EMBASE, SCOPUS, CINAHL, Web of Science, PubMed, PsycINFO, SocINDEX, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, and Wanfang Database. Sixty-five studies were included in this review, 29 in English and 36 in Chinese. This review summarized the prevalence of depression or depressive symptoms in Chinese older adults as 3.78% - 84.3%. According to the analysis based on the biopsychosocial theoretical framework, the associated factors involved in the included studies were: biological factors—physical health, disability, drug effects, gender; psychological factors—self-esteem, coping skills, trauma, emotions, beliefs, hobbies; social factors—family relationships, peers, family circumstances, school, residential area, social support, social structure. Future research should emphasize relevant characteristics of older adults for timely identification of depressed populations and the development of interventions.
Author Information
Yue Wu, University College Cork, Ireland
Nicola Cornally, University College Cork, Ireland
Teresa Wills, University College Cork, Ireland
Aine O'Donovan, Univeristy College Cork, Ireland
Caroline Kilty, University College Cork, Ireland
Anqi Li, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, China
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