Rani Ritu
Centre on Aging Studies, International Institute for Population Science (IIPS), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
French National Institute of Medical Health and Research (INSERM), Paris, France.
Indian J Psychiatry. 2024 Sep;66(9):814-822. doi: 10.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_317_24. Epub 2024 Sep 19.
Depression is a major public concern among older adults. However, limited studies have examined the association of depression and household air pollution (HAP). Therefore, this study examines the association between HAP due to unclean fuel use and depression among older adults in India.
Data from Longitudinal Aging Study of India (LASI), wave-1 (2017-18) were used (N = 50,206, ≥50 years). Depression measured by CIDI-SF (Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Short Form) was the outcome variable. Household unclean fuel use was considered as proxy of HAP. Bivariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression were used to fulfil the study objectives.
The prevalence of depression was greater among unclean fuel users than clean fuel users (9.6% vs 6.6%). Results showed that household unclean fuel use was associated with higher odds of depression. The interaction analyses showed that females and rural residents were at higher risk of depression due to HAP exposure. Furthermore, household cooking conditions also played an important role in the association between HAP exposure and depression. Unclean fuel use indoors without ventilation and with traditional chullah/stove was associated with higher odds of depression among older adults.
The study concludes that exposure to HAP due to unclean fuel use should be considered as a potential risk factor of depression among older adults. Therefore, the study suggests an urgent need to create awareness about negative effects of unclean fuel use on mental health and promote clean fuel usage in households to ensure healthy aging.
抑郁症是老年人中一个主要的公共关注点。然而，仅有有限的研究探讨了抑郁症与家庭空气污染（HAP）之间的关联。因此，本研究考察了印度老年人中因使用不清洁燃料导致的家庭空气污染与抑郁症之间的关联。
使用了来自印度纵向老龄化研究（LASI）第一波（2017 - 2018年）的数据（N = 50,206，年龄≥50岁）。以CIDI - SF（复合国际诊断访谈简表）测量的抑郁症为结果变量。家庭不清洁燃料的使用被视为家庭空气污染的替代指标。采用双变量分析和多变量逻辑回归来实现研究目标。
不清洁燃料使用者中的抑郁症患病率高于清洁燃料使用者（9.6%对6.6%）。结果表明，家庭不清洁燃料的使用与患抑郁症的较高几率相关。交互分析表明，女性和农村居民因暴露于家庭空气污染而患抑郁症的风险更高。此外，家庭烹饪条件在家庭空气污染暴露与抑郁症的关联中也起着重要作用。在没有通风且使用传统炉灶的室内使用不清洁燃料与老年人患抑郁症的较高几率相关。
该研究得出结论，因使用不清洁燃料而暴露于家庭空气污染应被视为老年人患抑郁症的一个潜在风险因素。因此，该研究表明迫切需要提高人们对不清洁燃料使用对心理健康的负面影响的认识，并促进家庭使用清洁燃料以确保健康老龄化。
