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Seniors Engaged in Volunteering Activities Have Lower Depression Prevalence

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Jan 13, 2025.

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Jan. 10, 2025 -- The prevalence of depression in older adults is impacted by age, gender, marital status, education, income, and volunteering, according to a study published online Jan. 8 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Yitao Xi, M.P.H., from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York City, and colleagues used data from 2,990 community-dwelling participants (aged 65 to 79 years) in the Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers study to examine the prevalence and correlates of depression.

At the time of assessment, 6.2 percent of participants had depression. The researchers found a higher prevalence of depression in those who were 65 to 69 years of age (7.9 percent), were women (7.2 percent), were not married (8.1 percent), had an education of high school or less (8.3 percent), or had annual household incomes <$50,000 (10.7 percent). A positive history of depression or chronic medical conditions (e.g., diabetes mellitus and anxiety) was associated with a significantly higher prevalence of depression, while a significantly lower prevalence of depression was seen in those engaged in volunteering activities. When adjusting for demographic characteristics and comorbidities, volunteering was associated with a 43 percent reduction in the odds of depression (adjusted odds ratio, 0.57).

"Our findings reaffirm the important role that sociodemographic and medical factors play in the prevalence of depression at the late phase of lifespan," senior author Guohua Li, M.D., Dr.P.H., also from the Mailman School of Public Health, said in a statement. "Our study underscores the need for policies that bolster financial security for older adults, and provides further evidence for the potential protective role of volunteering in mitigating the risk of depression."

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Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

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Posted January 2025

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