Purpose The purpose of this study was to analyse the trajectories of depression in urban and rural areas, and to analyse the relationship among multimorbidity, disability and other variables and trajectories. Methods Data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study were used. A latent class growth model was used to characterise the trajectories of urban and rural depression symptoms. Chi-square test was used to test the differences in respondents’ characteristics among depression trajectories groups within urban and rural areas. The relationships among multimorbidity, disability and depression symptom trajectories were analysed via multinomial logistic regression. Results Urban and rural depression trajectories were divided into three categories. Respondents in urban areas were divided into rising, remaining-low and declining group, and those in rural areas were divided into rising, remaining-low and remaining-high group. The depression scores of respondents with multimorbidity were more likely to rise, and this result was similar for the disabled respondents. Respondents who need help on activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living in urban areas were more likely to decline in depression scores. In rural areas, however, the values were consistently high. In urban and rural areas, the relationships among marital status, education and age and depression trajectories were different. Conclusions The depression trajectories are different in urban and rural China. Improving the quality of medical services, promoting the distribution of rural social resources and implementing more recreational activities could be beneficial for the promotion of mental health in rural areas.

Health poverty has become the most important cause of poverty and return to poverty. Understanding the health risk factors and action paths of poverty in families of rural elderly with chronic diseases is important to alleviate return to poverty because of illness. This study selected families with at least one elderly member (over 60 years old) with chronic diseases (sample size was 1,852 families) in two provinces and four counties in central and western China. The three-stage feasible generalized least square method was adopted, and the appropriate poverty line standard was selected to measure the poverty vulnerability index. A poverty vulnerability index ≥50% was considered to indicate vulnerability. The poverty vulnerability index and actual income status were combined to classify the samples. A structural equation model was established to explore the path of each health risk factor on the entire sample and various types of poverty vulnerabilities. The mean poverty vulnerability of 1,852 families was 0.5974 ± 0.25213, and among which, 1,170 households had a poverty vulnerability value ≥0.5, accounting for 63.17% of the entire sample. The incidence of poverty was higher among people with low vulnerability to poverty. Health shock was the direct cause of poverty for people with potential and avoidance poverty. The mediating roles of family and community significantly differed in various types of poverty vulnerability. The social and economic environment in rural areas should be enhanced in a diversified manner, and the income-generating ability of rural households should be improved based on actual local conditions. Moreover, the prevention and control of poverty vulnerabilities should be diversified and targeted. Policies implemented should be based on people and localities, the causes of poverty and returning to poverty, and the types of poverty vulnerabilities. The use efficiency of medical insurance should be further improved, and the responsibility of medical insurance targeted poverty alleviation must be clarified.

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The South Ningxia Basin, as the outermost Cenozoic basin on the north‐eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, is characterized by a series of convex to the north‐east arcuate structural belts. Constraining the final formation time of the belt has been an ongoing focus in geologic research of the Tibetan Plateau. A set of early Pleistocene conglomerates, the Yumen conglomerate, overlying the folded pre‐Quaternary formations are widely distributed throughout the whole basin, and the latest folded formation is the upper Pliocene Ganhegou Formation, marking the termination of folding uplift in the north‐eastern Tibetan Plateau. Based on 1:50,000 geological mapping, a set of early Pleistocene alluvial fan conglomerates overlying the folded Palaeogene–Neogene strata were recognized and agree well with the Yumen conglomerate. Here, the Yumen conglomerate formation ages were determined to be 0.6–1.04 Ma using cosmic nuclide burial dating. Combined with the upper limit age of the latest strata beneath the unconformity with the latest palaeomagnetic age of 2.77 Ma, the crustal shortening event is restricted to the period 2.77–1.04 Ma, indicating that it is the most intense tectonic shortening event along the north‐eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau.

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