Thomeer Mieke Beth
University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
J Health Soc Behav. 2016 Mar;57(1):59-76. doi: 10.1177/0022146516628179.
Multiple chronic conditions (i.e., multimorbidity) increase a person's depressive symptoms more than having one chronic condition. Little is known regarding whether multimorbidity similarly increases the depressive symptoms of one's spouse and whether this depends on type of condition, gender, or both spouses' health status. Analysis of multiple waves of the Health and Retirement Study reveals husband's number of chronic conditions is positively related to wife's depressive symptoms when both spouses are chronically ill. The association between wife's chronic conditions and husband's depressive symptoms is weaker and less robust. Type of chronic condition also matters but which type depends on the gender and health status of both spouses. By highlighting key contexts where chronic conditions are connected to spousal depressive symptoms, this study identifies areas of vulnerability and urges researchers and clinicians to consider multimorbidity when designing and implementing interventions, along with gender, both spouses' chronic conditions, and condition type.
多种慢性病（即共病）比患有一种慢性病更能增加一个人的抑郁症状。关于共病是否同样会增加配偶的抑郁症状，以及这是否取决于疾病类型、性别或夫妻双方的健康状况，目前所知甚少。对多轮健康与退休研究的分析表明，当夫妻双方都患有慢性病时，丈夫的慢性病数量与妻子的抑郁症状呈正相关。妻子的慢性病与丈夫的抑郁症状之间的关联较弱且不太稳定。慢性病的类型也很重要，但具体取决于夫妻双方的性别和健康状况。通过强调慢性病与配偶抑郁症状相关的关键背景，本研究确定了脆弱领域，并敦促研究人员和临床医生在设计和实施干预措施时考虑共病情况，以及性别、夫妻双方的慢性病情况和疾病类型。
