The Association Between Depression Trajectories and Asthma Risk: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS)

Background Previous studies show asthma comorbid with depression significantly impacts quality of life, yet research on the long-term trajectory between depressive symptoms and asthma in middle-aged and elderly Chinese remains limited. Objective This study aims to understand the different trajectories of depressive symptoms and their influencing factors in middle-aged and elderly asthmatic patients in China. Methods This study uses data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) collected between 2011 and 2018, involving 484 participants aged 45 and above. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10). A group-based trajectory model (GBTM) was constructed to identify long-term patterns of depressive symptom trajectories; Factors influencing these trajectories were analyzed via a multivariate logistic regression model. Results During the entire follow-up, we identified three depressive symptom trajectories: the "Low-stable" group, "Middle-fluctuating" group, and "High-increasing" group. We found differences in the basic characteristics across subgroups with distinct depressive trajectories, while unmarried, having no contact with children, and short sleep duration were key indicators for identifying populations requiring focus in depressive symptom prevention and treatment. Conclusions Depressive symptom trajectories in middle-aged and elderly Chinese asthmatics are heterogeneous, so it is necessary to focus on the trajectory characteristics of different subgroups.