Patterns of Association between Depressive Symptoms and Chronic Medical Morbidities in Older Adults.

OBJECTIVES To investigate the association between depressive symptoms and several medical morbidities, and their combination, in a large older population. DESIGN Cross‐sectional study of baseline data from the ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) trial. SETTING Multicentric study conducted in Australia and the United States. PARTICIPANTS A total of 19,110 older adults (mean age = 75 years [standard deviation = ±4.5]). MEASUREMENTS Depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES‐D 10) scale. Medical morbidities were defined according to condition‐specific methods. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to test associations before and after accounting for possible confounders. RESULTS: Depressive symptoms were significantly associated with obesity (OR = 1.19; 95% CI = 1.07‐1.32), diabetes (OR = 1.22; 95% CI = 1.05‐1.42), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) (OR = 1.41; 95% CI = 1.28‐1.57), metabolic syndrome (OR = 1.16; 95% CI = 1.03‐1.29), osteoarthritis (OR = 1.41; 95% CI = 1.27‐1.57), respiratory conditions (OR = 1.25; 95% CI = 1.10‐1.42), history of cancer (OR = 1.19; 95% CI = 1.05‐1.34), Parkinson's disease (OR = 2.56; 95% CI = 1.83‐3.56), polypharmacy (OR = 1.60; 95% CI = 1.44‐1.79), and multimorbidity (OR = 1.29; 95% CI = 1.12‐1.49). No significant association was observed between depressive symptoms and hypertension, chronic kidney disease, dyslipidemia, and gout (P >.05). A significant dose‐response relationship was evident between the number of medical comorbidities and the prevalence of depression (OR = 1.18; 95% CI = 1.13‐1.22). CONCLUSION: Late‐life depressive symptoms are significantly associated with several medical morbidities, and there appears to be a cumulative effect of the number of somatic diseases on the prevalence of depression. These findings augment the evidence for a complex relationship between mental and physical health in an otherwise healthy older population and might guide clinicians toward early recognition of high‐risk individuals. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:1834‐1841, 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]