Clinical Focus ›› 2026, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (10): 881-890.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-583X.2026.10.003

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A prospective cohort study of time-updated discrepancies between subjective and objective health and incident depressive symptoms in Chinese middle-aged and older adults

Wang Qilong, Qi Xin, Zhao Dongrong()   

  1. Department of Mental Health, Gansu Provincial Hospital, Lanzhou 730000, China
  • Received:2026-09-30 Online:2026-10-20 Published:2026-10-10
  • Contact: Zhao Dongrong E-mail:13919131767@163.com

Abstract:

Objective To examine the prospective effect of time-updated discrepancies between subjective and objective health on incident depression in Chinese middle-aged and older adults. Methods Based on the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS, 2011-2020), 6 193 middle-aged and older participants aged ≥50 years without depression at baseline were included (15 892 person-periods). Four time-updated phenotypes were defined by self-rated health and chronic disease comorbidity. A discrete-time complementary log-log survival model was used to evaluate the risk of depression. Results During follow-up, 2 845 incident depression cases occurred. In the fully adjusted model, compared with the group with good self-rated health and no comorbidity, the risk of incident depression was significantly increased in the group with poor self-rated health and no comorbidity (HR=1.54, 95%CI: 1.39-1.71), the group with good self-rated health but with comorbidity (HR=1.40, 95%CI: 1.14-1.71), and the group with poor self-rated health and comorbidity (HR=2.11, 95%CI: 1.88-2.36). No significant interactions were observed across clinical subgroups (all interaction P>0.05). Conclusion Health phenotypes were associated with incident depressive symptoms; the highest risk was observed among individuals with both poor self-rated health and multimorbidity. Joint evaluation of subjective and objective health may help identify individuals at elevated risk of depressive symptoms.

Key words: self-rated health, chronic disease multimorbidity, health discordance, depressive symptoms, prospective cohort study

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