Decomposing differences in depressive symptoms between older rural-to-urban migrant workers and their counterparts in mainland China

Abstract

Background There has been an increase in older rural-to-urban migrant workers (aged 50 and above) in mainland China, little known about their depressive symptoms. The aim of this study was to identify depressive symptoms among older rural-to-urban migrant workers, as well as explored the factors leading to differences in depressive symptoms between older rural-to-urban migrant workers and their rural counterparts (older rural dwellers) and urban counterparts (older urban residents) in mainland China. The results provided a comprehensive understanding of the depressive symptoms of older rural-to-urban migrant workers, and had great significance for improving the depressive symptoms for this vulnerable group. Methods Data were derived from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) conducted in 2015, and coarsened exact matching (CEM) method was employed to control confounding factors. This study employed a Chinese version 10-item short form of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D 10) to measure depressive symptoms, and used the Social-Ecological Model as a framework to explore influential factors related to depressive symptoms. Specifically, the approach of Fairlie’s decomposition was used to parse out differences into observed and unobserved components. Results After matching, our findings indicated that the prevalence of depressive symptoms in older rural-to-urban migrant workers was lower than older rural dwellers; and the prevalence of depressive symptoms in older rural-to-urban migrant workers was higher than older urban residents. Fairlie’s decomposition analysis indicated that type of in-house shower, sleeping time at night and ill in the last month were proved to be major contributors to the differences in depressive symptoms between older rural-to-urban migrant workers and older rural dwellers; self-reported health and sleeping time at night were proved to be major contributors to the differences in depressive symptoms between older rural-to-urban migrant workers and older urban residents. Conclusions Differences in depressive symptoms between older rural-to-urban migrant workers and their rural and urban counterparts did exist. Our findings contributed to a more reliable understanding in depressive symptoms among older rural-to-urban migrant workers. Our findings would be of referential significance for improving older rural-to-urban migrant workers’ depressive symptoms.

The association between Urban and Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance and depressive symptoms among Chinese middle‐aged and older adults: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study

“…In this study, we used the 10‐item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES–D 10) to measure depressive symptoms of the middle‐aged and older adults. This scale has been widely used to measure depressive symptoms 1,26‐33 . Previous studies have found that this scale has higher reliability and validity 34,35 .…”

“…This scale has been widely used to measure depressive symptoms. 1,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] Previous studies have found that this scale has higher reliability and validity. 34,35 Besides, a study reveals that this scale has demonstrated strong psychometric properties, including predictive accuracy and high correlations with the original 20-item version.…”

Health Disparities between the Rural and Urban Elderly in China: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Numerous variables are available in CHARLS. Followed by prior empirical investigations [9,[23][24][25][26], all possible variables that may produce SAH of the elderly were considered in our study. The definition and measurement of variables in this study were all shown in Table 1.…”

Decomposing Differences in Health Service Utilization between Older Rurul-to-Urban Migrant Workers and Older Rural Residents：What is Driving the Differences?

“…As far, rural-to-urban migrant workers have made great contributions to the development of urbanization and industrialization in China. Aging and migration have signi cantly shaped the population composition in China, where older rural-to-urban migrant workers (age 50 and above) make up increasingly large proportions of the population [1][2][3].…”

“…A growing body of studies have drawn attention to older rural-to-urban migrant workers, and a common nding showed that, compared to older rural residents, older rurul-to-urban migrant workers overall seem to suffer from chronic diseases and mental orders [2][3][4][5]. However, there is a shortage of research on the discussion of their health service utilization, not to mention the comparison on health service utilization between older rural-to-urban migrant workers and older rural residents.…”