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The Role of Chronic Disease Numbers in the Relationship Between Living Alone and Depression: A Four-Way Decomposition Analysis in a Cross-Sectional Study of Older Adults

Haichen Wu,Pengxin Dong,Yidan Chai,Ping Huang,Lichong Lai,Jie Peng,Xiaoying Cao,Xiaoling Feng,Dongmei Huang,Huiqiao Huang

Published 2025 in Clinical Interventions in Aging

ABSTRACT

Objective Living alone is becoming increasingly common among the elderly population, and there is a close relationship between living alone and chronic diseases in relation to depression. However, the interplay between them has not been fully investigated. This study aims to explore the role of the number of chronic diseases in the relationship between living alone and depressive symptoms among older adults in China. Patients and methods A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Guangxi, China, involving 10,370 older adults (aged ≥ 65 years) living in the community. Using the four-way decomposition analysis, we evaluated: (1) The direct impact of living alone on depression; (2) The mediating role of the number of chronic diseases when controlling for potential confounding factors. Results The risk of depressive symptoms in older adults living alone was significantly higher than that in older adults cohabiting (adjusted OR = 1.66, 95% CI: 1.57, 1.76). Mediation analysis showed that 71.64% of the total effect was a controllable direct effect (CDE: β = 0.384, 95% CI: 0.058, 0.709), and 11.91% of the total effect was mediated by the number of chronic diseases (pure indirect effect: β = 0.046, 95% CI: 0.005, 0.086). The effects of reference interaction (INTref) and mediating interaction (INTmed) did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion The number of chronic diseases plays a partial mediating role between living alone and depression. Although chronic diseases do mediate the relationship between living alone and depression to some extent, the majority of the effect is directly attributable to the state of living alone. These findings highlight the significant impact of living alone on depression in older adults and suggest that mental health interventions targeting older adults living alone should focus on enhancing social support and emotional care to effectively reduce the risk of depression.

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