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Reciprocal relationship between pain and depression in elderly Chinese primary care patients
- Authors:
- CHOU Kee-Lee, CHI Iris
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 20(10), October 2005, pp.945-952.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This study examines the reciprocal relationship between pain and depression and to identify whether social support, functional disability or social functioning mediated the link between pain and depression among Hong Kong Chinese elderly primary care patients. Three hundred and eighteen patients were assessed by a trained assessor with MDS-HC at baseline and these subjects were randomly selected from attendants of three randomly selected elderly health centers in Hong Kong. These patients were re-assessed one year after baseline evaluation. Multiple regression analyses revealed that pain at baseline significantly predicted depression at 12-month follow-up assessment when age, gender, martial status, education, and depression at baseline were adjusted for, but depression at baseline was not associated with pain at 12-months after baseline measure while controlling for age, gender, martial status, education, and pain at baseline. However, depression did predict the onset of pain. Moreover, social support, physical disability or social functioning did not mediate the impact of pain on depression. These data suggest that pain is an important predictor of depression in elderly primary care patients. Therefore, aged care service practitioners must take this risk factor into consideration in their preventive intervention and treatment for psychological well-being.
Prevalence of depression among elderly Chinese with diabetes
- Author:
- CHOU Kee-Lee
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 20(6), June 2005, pp.570-575.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This study aimed to examine the association between diabetes and depression among older Chinese and to determine the extent to which depression is mediated by physical disability and diabetes-related comorbid conditions. The study used a cross-sectional analysis of data from a population-based study composed of a representative sample of 2003 non-institutionalized older adults aged 60 and older living in Hong Kong who agreed to participate in the study. The relation between diabetes and depression (measured with the Geriatric Depression Scale) was examined. Results found 12 percent of the older adults reported physician-diagnosed diabetes and amongst these older persons with diabetes, 26 precent of them reported elated level of depressive symptoms. Logistic regression analyses revealed that diabetes was significantly related to depression even when controlling for age, gender, marital status, and education. More importantly, adjusted for self-reported disability in three domains including self-care, mobility, and higher functioning did not attenuate this association but the association disappeared after adjustment for four diabetes-related complications including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and vision problems had been made.
To retire or not to retire: is there an option for older workers in Hong Kong?
- Authors:
- CHOU Kee-Lee, CHOW Nelson W.S.
- Journal article citation:
- Social Policy and Administration, 39(3), June 2005, pp.233-246.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Over the next thirty years, Hong Kong will have a rapidly ageing population. One possible consequence of this will be a labour shortage, which means that it will be essential to strike a proper balance between the amount of time spent in work and the amount spent in retirement in old age. The balance is determined by the interaction between the aspiration of workers, employers’ attitudes to older workers, as well as the productivity of the labour force. This article examines the issue based on life-course theory and argues that the compartmentalization of education, work and retirement must be broken by changes in social policy. Three groups are identified as future older adults in the coming three decades: those who may be forced to retire early in their fifties, those who plan to retire in their sixties, and those who will continue to work until they can no longer work. The current situations of these groups are described, and social policies that are related to retirement pension scheme, age discrimination, life-long education, and flexible work arrangements are suggested to weaken the age structuring of education and employment institutions. The ultimate objective is to create a societal environment in which older workers have a real option either to work or to retire in the coming decades.
Prevalence and correlates of depression in Chinese oldest-old
- Authors:
- CHOU Kee-Lee, CHI Iris
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 20(1), January 2005, pp.41-50.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
In Hong Kong, the aged population will be increased rapidly in the coming three decades and the oldest-old (aged 80 and above) is the fastest growing age group. In this paper, we examined the prevalence rate and the correlates of depression for the oldest-old. This article analyzes cross-sectional data collected from a representative community sample of 1 903 Chinese elderly people aged 60 or above in Hong Kong. Respondents were interviewed in face-to-face format with structural questionnaire. Using 8 as the cut-off point for the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale, we found that the prevalence rate was greater for the oldest-old (31.1% ± 9.7%) than for the young-old (aged between 60 and 69; 19.1% ± 2.8%) and the old-old (aged 70 and 79; 22.4% ± 4.2%) groups. Logistic regression analyses revealed that financial strain, poor self-rated health, loneliness, and heart disease were significantly and positively related to depression in the oldest-old after gender, marital status, education, living arrangement, functional disability, sensory impairment, cognitive ability, and the presence of eight medical conditions were controlled. Interestingly, financial strain, self-rated health, and loneliness were found to be significant correlates of depression in the young-old and the old-old groups, too. Depression is a serious problem for the oldest-old but a number of correlates are consistently identified in the oldest-old, as well as the two other age groups in the elderly population. Therefore, aged care service practitioners must take these correlates into consideration in their prevention and treatment for depression for all different age groups in the aged.