Association between multimorbidity and cognitive frailty among the elderly in China: the mediating effect of depressive symptoms

IF 4.3

Experimental gerontology Pub Date : 2025-08-13 DOI:10.1016/j.exger.2025.112864

Jing Lv , Fengmei Huang , Yumei Shi

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective

To investigate the relationship among multimorbidity, depressive symptoms, and cognitive frailty (CF) in the elderly, and to explore the mediating effect of depressive symptoms between multimorbidity and CF in the elderly.

Methods

The data for this study were derived from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). A sample of the elderly (aged ≥60 years) was selected. The associations of CF with multimorbidity and depressive symptoms were analyzed by logistic regression while adjusting for potential confounding factors. The mediating effect of depressive symptoms between multimorbidity and CF was verified using a Z-test.

Results

Among the 9217 participants, there were 6045 older adults with multimorbidity (65.6 %), 3566 with depressive symptoms (38.7 %), and 1591 with CF (17.3 %). Regression analysis showed that both multimorbidity (OR = 2.624, P < 0.001) and depressive symptoms (OR = 2.737, P < 0.001) increased the risk of CF in the elderly. The results of mediation analysis showed that multimorbidity was strongly associated with CF (C = 0.119, P < 0.001). After incorporating depressive symptoms as a mediator into the model of multimorbidity and CF, the relationship between multimorbidity and CF remained significant (C = 0.098, P < 0.001). Z-test results confirmed that the mediating role of depressive symptoms between multimorbidity and CF in the elderly was significant (Z = 2.96, P < 0.001).

Conclusion

The status of CF in the elderly shouldn't be ignored. Multimorbidity and depressive symptoms are significantly related to CF, which increases the risk of CF in the elderly, and the mediating effect of depressive symptoms is significant in the relationship between multimorbidity and CF in the elderly.

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中国老年人多病与认知衰弱的关系：抑郁症状的中介作用

目的：探讨老年人多病、抑郁症状与认知衰弱（CF）之间的关系，并探讨抑郁症状在老年人多病与CF之间的中介作用。方法：本研究的数据来源于2018年中国健康与退休纵向研究（CHARLS）。选取老年人（≥60岁 岁）作为样本。在调整潜在混杂因素的同时，通过逻辑回归分析CF与多病和抑郁症状的关联。采用z检验验证抑郁症状在多重发病与CF之间的中介作用。结果：在9217名参与者中，6045名老年人患有多种疾病（65.6% %），3566名患有抑郁症状（38.7% %），1591名患有CF（17.3% %）。回归分析显示两组多发病（OR = 2.624,P ）。结论：老年人CF的状况不容忽视。多病和抑郁症状与CF有显著相关，增加了老年人CF的风险，抑郁症状在多病与老年人CF的关系中起显著的中介作用。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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