Faculty of Management and Economics, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China.
Yunnan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Kunming, China.
Front Public Health. 2023 Mar 10;11:1137623. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1137623. eCollection 2023.
China is experiencing rapid population aging, with the proportion of older adult people aged 60 and above reaching 19. 8% of the total population in 2022. With the growth of age, the physical function of older adults declines and their mental health is getting worse, with the increasing trend of empty nesting and childlessness, older adults lack information and social interaction with others and fall into social isolation, loneliness and some mental health problems, the proportion of older adults with mental health problems gradually rises and the mortality rate increases incrementally, requiring effective ways to intervene in the mental health of older adults and promote healthy aging.
The present study investigated the influence of spiritual comfort older adult services on the mental health of 12,624 older adults aged 60 years or older in 23 provinces in China from 2017 to 2018, with the aim of providing a case for the development of more targeted mental health strategies for older people.
Using the data from the 2018 CLHLS Survey, the influencing factors of the mental health of older people were analyzed using chi-square test and the logit regression model. The mechanism of the health care facilities and the spiritual comfort services on mental health was analyzed using the chain mediation effect.
The spiritual comfort services decreased the risk of negative emotion and mental health of older adults, with female (OR = 1.168), rural residents (OR = 1.385), no drinking (OR = 1.255), not exercising (OR = 1.543), not having pension insurance (OR = 1.233), and low annual household income (OR = 1.416) being the characteristics as risk factors. The mediating effect results showed that the health care facilities had a partial mediating effect between the spiritual comfort services and the mental health status of older people, and the mediating effect accounted for 40.16% of the total effect.
The use of spiritual comfort services can effectively reduce and alleviate the adverse mental health symptoms of older people, promote guidance and health education for healthy older people and chronically ill patients, and improve the good health perception of older people in order to improve their quality of life and mental health status.
中国正经历快速人口老龄化，2022 年 60 岁及以上老年人口比例达到总人口的 19.8%。随着年龄的增长，老年人的身体机能下降，心理健康状况恶化，空巢和无子女现象日益增多，老年人缺乏与他人的信息和社会交往，陷入社会孤立、孤独和一些心理健康问题，心理健康问题的老年人比例逐渐上升，死亡率呈递增趋势，需要采取有效措施干预老年人心理健康，促进健康老龄化。
本研究调查了 2017 年至 2018 年中国 23 个省 12624 名 60 岁及以上老年人的精神慰藉服务对其心理健康的影响，旨在为制定更有针对性的老年人心理健康策略提供案例。
利用 2018 年 CLHLS 调查数据，采用卡方检验和 Logit 回归模型分析老年人心理健康的影响因素。采用连锁中介效应分析卫生保健设施和精神慰藉服务对心理健康的作用机制。
精神慰藉服务降低了老年人负面情绪和心理健康的风险，女性（OR=1.168）、农村居民（OR=1.385）、不饮酒（OR=1.255）、不锻炼（OR=1.543）、没有养老保险（OR=1.233）和低家庭年收入（OR=1.416）是风险因素的特征。中介效应结果表明，卫生保健设施在精神慰藉服务与老年人心理健康状况之间存在部分中介效应，中介效应占总效应的 40.16%。
使用精神慰藉服务可以有效减轻和缓解老年人不良心理健康症状，促进健康老年人和慢性病患者的指导和健康教育，提高老年人的良好健康感知，从而提高其生活质量和心理健康状况。
