Depressive symptoms in people with chronic physical conditions: prevalence and risk factors in a Hong Kong community sample

Table 1 Characteristics of the study sample with chronic conditions and its difference between men and women ^a

Variables	Total	Men	Women	P values
Number (%)	6,195 (100%)	2,862 (46.2%)	3,333 (53.8%)	-
Mean age in years (SD) ^b	58.5 (16.7)	58.4 (16.8)	58.6 (16.6)	0.75
Marital status (%)				<0.001
Never Married	13.0	13.9	12.3
Married	70.6	78.3	64.0
Widowed	12.1	4.3	18.9
Divorced/Separated	4.2	3.5	4.9
Education levels (%)				<0.001
Primary	44.8	37.4	51.1
Secondary	39.6	43.2	36.5
Tertiary or above	15.7	19.4	12.4
Monthly family income (HK$ ^c, %)			0.09
No income or <5,000	26.9	25.3	28.2
5,000–9,999	17.6	17.2	17.6
10,000–19,999	25.1	26.1	24.1
20,000–29,999	14.6	15.1	14.2
≥ 30,000	15.8	16.4	15.4
Number of chronic conditions ^d (%)				<0.05
1	60.8	62.0	59.7
2	25.7	25.6	25.8
≥ 3	13.5	12.4	14.5
Body mass index, kg/m²	24.5 (4.2)	24.5 (3.9)	24.5 (4.4)	0.79
Current high risk drinker (yes, %)	4.8	8.3	1.8	<0.001
Current smoker (yes, %)	12.2	22.1	3.6	<0.001
Physically more active (yes, %)	30.2	30.3	30.1	>0.05
Level of depressive symptom severity (PHQ-9 score, %)				<0.001
Minimal depression (scores 0–4)	83.0	86.2	80.3
Mild (5–9)	12.8	10.7	14.6
Moderate (10–14)	2.8	1.9	3.6
Moderately severe (15–19)	1.0	1.1	1.0
Severe (≥20)	0.4	0.2	0.5
Depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 score) ^e	2.29 (3.38)	1.94 (3.10)	2.60 (3.57)	<0.001
Non-somatic depression score (PHQ-6)	0.95 (2.07)	0.82 (1.91)	1.06 (2.20)	<0.001
Somatic depression score (PHQ-3)	1.34 (1.71)	1.11 (1.57)	1.54 (1.81)	<0.001
Life stress ^f	0.16 (0.36)	0.14 (0.34)	0.17 (0.37)	<0.001
Living alone (yes, %)	14.7	12.6	16.5	<0.001
Family satisfaction ^g	6.47 (3.49)	6.31 (3.48)	6.60 (3.50)	<0.01
Neighborhood cohesion ^h	2.49 (0.62)	2.53 (0.60)	2.47 (0.63)	<0.001

^a P values for difference between men and women.
^b Unless otherwise indicated, data presented are mean (standard division).
^c US$ 1 = HK$7.8.
^d Summed by self-reported hypertension, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, dyslipidemia, asthma, chronic obstructive lung disease, digestive disease, chronic musculoskeletal condition and cancer.
^e Measured by PHQ-9; scores range from 0 to 27, higher scores indicate greater severity of depressive symptom.
^f Measured by the stressful life event questionnaire; scores range from 0 to 4.59, higher scores indicate greater life events related stress.
^g Measured by Family APGAR; scores range from 0 to 10, higher scores indicate greater satisfaction with family support.
^h Perceived neighborhood social cohesion; scores range from 1 to 5, higher scores indicate greater social cohesion.

ISSN: 1471-244X