International Journal of Preventive Medicine (Int J Prev Med)2008-780210102020020921732173ENDepartment of Family Medicine, Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science & Department of Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CADepartment of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland20200205<p><span class="fontstyle0"><strong>Background</strong>: </span><span class="fontstyle2">To test whether gender moderates the effects of baseline depressive symptoms and<br />chronic medical conditions (CMCs) on risk of receiving subsequent psychiatric diagnosis among<br />older adults. </span></p><p><span class="fontstyle0"><strong>Methods</strong>: </span><span class="fontstyle2">Data came from ten waves of the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally<br />representative longitudinal study. We followed 9794 individuals older than 52 years without any<br />diagnosed psychiatric disorder at baseline for up to 18 years. Baseline depressive symptoms and<br />CMC were the predictors, time to receiving an emotional diagnosis was the outcome, baseline<br />demographics and socioeconomics were controls, and gender was the moderator. We used Cox<br />proportional hazards models for data analysis.</span></p><p><strong></strong><span class="fontstyle0"><strong>Results</strong>: </span><span class="fontstyle2">In the pooled sample, female gender<br />increased the effect of baseline depressive symptoms (hazard ratio [HR], 1.58; 95% confidence<br />interval [CI], 1.26–2.00) and reduced the effect of baseline CMC (HR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.63–0.97)<br />on time to receiving a psychiatric diagnosis. Among men, baseline depressive symptoms (HR, 2.36;<br />95% CI, 1.87–2.97) increased and baseline CMC (HR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.69–0.95) decreased time<br />to receiving a psychiatric diagnosis. Among women, depressive symptoms (HR, 1.49; 95% CI,<br />1.21–1.83) but not CMC (HR, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.91–1.23) were associated with time to receiving a<br />psychiatric diagnosis over time. </span></p><p><span class="fontstyle0"><strong>Conclusions</strong>: </span><span class="fontstyle2">Men and women differ in how depressive symptoms<br />and CMC influence their risk of receiving a psychiatric diagnosis over time. Depressive symptoms<br />are more salient promotor for men than women while CMC is only a barrier for men.<br /></span></p><p><span class="fontstyle0" style="color: #00652e;"><strong>Keywords</strong>: </span><span class="fontstyle3">Chronic medical conditions, depressive symptoms, gender</span></p>http://ijpm.mui.ac.ir/index.php/ijpm/article/view/2173http://ijpm.mui.ac.ir/index.php/ijpm/article/download/2173/717717969