Citation

Quittschalle J, Pabst A, Löbner M, Luppa M, Heser K, Wagner M, van den Bussche H, Hajek A, König HH, Wiese B, Angermeyer MC, Maier W, Scherer M, Riedel-Heller SG. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021; 18(15): e7959.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph18157959

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the association of alcohol and tobacco use with severity of depression in older age. Analyses were performed on a pooled data set (n = 3724) from two German old-age cohort studies (LEILA 75+, 6 follow-ups and AgeCoDe/AgeQualiDe, 9 follow-ups). Depressive symptoms were assessed via two screening scales for depression (CES-D and GDS-15) which were harmonized for pooled analysis. A mixed-effects linear regression model for the total sample and additional stratified models for men and women were used. Smoking at baseline was significantly associated with a higher level of depression severity (β = 0.142, 95% CI: 0.051-0.233, p = 0.002), whereas drinking was significantly associated with a decreased level of depression (β = -0.069, 95% CI: -0.119--0.021, p = 0.005). Concurrent substance use at baseline increased longitudinal depression severity (β = 0.193, 95% CI: 0.011-0.375, p = 0.037). Analyses stratified by gender showed a significant inverse association between drinking and depressive symptoms in men (β = -0.138, 95% CI: -0.231--0.045, p = 0.004), but not in women (β = -0.060, 95% CI: -0.120-0.001, p = 0.052). Given the burden of major depression, it is important that health care providers, especially primary care physicians, assess and monitor lifestyle factors, even at older ages.

Language: en

Keywords

gender differences; depression; lifestyle factors; old age