Association Between Chronic Pain and Depression in Elderly Chinese Women: Results From the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study

Public Health Nurs. 2025 Jun 8. doi: 10.1111/phn.13579. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Chronic pain and depression are very common in the elderly population and have a profound impact on quality of life. However, studies specifically focusing on the elderly female population are relatively scarce, especially in the Chinese cultural context, where elderly women may face greater psychological pressure due to their social roles, such as family care, which increases the risk of depression. The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between chronic pain and depression in Chinese elderly women.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was based on data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) and collected basic characteristics and information on chronic pain and depression status of elderly Chinese women aged 60 and above. Chronic pain conditions were assessed by self-report, and depressive symptoms were assessed using the 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10). Logistic regression models were used to analyze the relationship between chronic pain and the risk of depressive symptoms, adjusting for main covariates associated with depression in elderly women.

RESULTS: Of the 7215 subjects analyzed at baseline, the mean age of participants was 62.1 years (SD 9.7). Two thousand nine hundred and twenty-five (40.5%) participants were classified as chronic pain and 3550 (49.2%) as depressive symptoms. After adjusting for age and BMI, the risk of developing depression for subjects with chronic pain was 1.133 times higher compared to those without chronic pain (OR 1.133, 95% CI 1.029-1.246; p = 0.011). Further adjustment for sociodemographic, behavioral lifestyle, and health-related factors only slightly weakened this association (OR 1.125, 95% CI 1.024-1.236; p = 0.014).

CONCLUSION: This study revealed a significant association between chronic pain and depressive symptoms in elderly Chinese women, supporting the use of chronic pain screening as an effective tool to identify individuals at high risk of depression, with advantages of low cost and easy implementation.

PMID:40484814 | DOI:10.1111/phn.13579