Associations of smoking and alcohol drinking with depressive symptoms in middle-aged and elderly women in China

  Objective  To explore effects of smoking and alcohol drinking on depressive symptoms among middle-aged and elderly women in China, and to provide evidences for developing strategies and intervention measures for improving mental health of middle-aged and elderly women.

  Methods  The data of the study were from two waves of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) conducted in 2013 and 2015. the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D10) was used to assess the depressive symptoms. The influence of smoking and alcohol drinking on the symptoms of the women were analyzed with logistic regression model.

  Results  Of the 5 532 participants without depressive symptoms at the first wave survey, 1 405 were identified having depressive symptoms in the second wave survey and the incidence of depressive symptoms was 25.40%. The incidence of depressive symptoms was higher among the rural participants than among the urban participants (29.25% vs. 19.93%). Logistic analysis showed that for all the participants, current smokers (odds ratio OR = 1.23, 95% confidence interval 95% CI : 0.95 – 1.60), ex-smokers (OR = 0.70, 95% CI: 0.47 – 1.08), weekly alcohol drinkers (OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 0.90 – 1.52), and occasional alcohol drinkers (OR = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.83 – 1.29) were not at significantly increased risk of depressive symptoms compared to the non-smokers and non alcohol drinkers. However, for the urban participants, current smokers had a higher risk of depressive symptoms (OR = 1.53, 95% CI: 1.01 – 2.32) than the non-smokers; no significantly increased risk of depressive symptoms was observed among the rural current smokers (OR = 1.10, 95% CI: 0.78 – 1.57) and ex-smokers (OR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.46 – 1.29) in comparison with the rural non-smokers.

  Conclusion  The incidence of depressive symptoms is relatively high among middle-aged and elderly women in China and the incidence is higher among the rural women than that among the urban women. Relevant health education should be promoted in middle-aged and elderly women.