Objective To understand the prevalence and influencing factors of depression among older adults relocated for poverty alleviation in Shanxi province, and to provide a reference for mental health promotion in the population.

Methods A face-to-face survey was conducted among 1 882 elderly residents (≥ 60 years) recruited through stratified multistage random sampling in 24 poverty alleviation settlements in 8 counties of Shanxi province from June to August 2023. The 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies of Depression Short Form (CES-D-10), the Chinese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (CMMSE), the Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living Scale (Katz ADL), the abbreviated version of the Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS-6), and a self-designed questionnaire were used in the study. A multivariate unconditional logistic regression model was used to analyze the main factors influencing of depression among the participants.

Results For the 1 851 older adults finally included in the analysis, the mean CES-D-10 score was 11.75 ± 5.88, with 915 (49.4%) classified as having depressive symptoms. The results of multivariate unconditional logistic regression analysis showed that female gender (odds ratio OR = 1.631, 95% confidence interval 95%CI: 1.296 – 2.051), chronic disease (OR = 1.952, 95%CI: 1.573 – 2.421), limited activities of daily living (OR = 1.801, 95%CI: 1.269 – 2.555), and low social network level (OR = 1.627, 95%CI: 1.333 – 1.987) were risk factors for depression among older adults relocated for poverty alleviation, whereas physical activity (OR = 0.773, 95%CI: 0.605 – 0.987) was a protective factor against depression.

Conclusion The prevalence of depression symptoms is high and is mainly influenced by gender, physical activity, chronic disease, activities of daily living, and social network level among older adults relocated for poverty alleviation in Shanxi province.