Jain Anoop, Pitchik Helen O, Kim Rockli, Subramanian S V, Glymour M Maria
Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Division of Epidemiology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Age Ageing. 2025 Jul 1;54(7). doi: 10.1093/ageing/afaf170.
Inadequate access to toilets, which often results in open defecation, could be a risk factor for depression among India's older and ageing population. Using cross-sectional data from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India from 2017 to 2018, we assessed associations between the lack of a toilet and major depression among 64 082 women and men above the age of 45. In our adjusted multilevel model, we found no association between the lack of a household toilet and the risk of major depression (OR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.79 to 1.11). We also found no association when we stratified by respondent's sex or age. Finally, we did not find any consistent association between toilet access and major depression across India's states and Union Territories. Despite our results, it is possible that inadequate access to sanitation is associated with acute feelings of anxiety, stress and shame-as has been shown in previous studies-but that this is not associated with major depression. Therefore, more research is required to examine associations between toilet access and other more proximal mental health outcomes.
厕所使用不便往往导致露天排便，这可能是印度老年及老龄人口患抑郁症的一个风险因素。利用2017年至2018年印度纵向老龄化研究的横断面数据，我们评估了64082名45岁以上男女中有无厕所与重度抑郁症之间的关联。在我们调整后的多层次模型中，我们发现家庭无厕所与重度抑郁症风险之间没有关联（比值比=0.94，95%置信区间：0.79至1.11）。按受访者性别或年龄分层时，我们也未发现关联。最后，我们没有发现在印度各邦和联邦属地中，厕所使用情况与重度抑郁症之间存在任何一致的关联。尽管我们得出了这些结果，但正如先前研究所示，卫生设施使用不便可能与焦虑、压力和羞耻等急性情绪有关，但这与重度抑郁症并无关联。因此，需要更多研究来考察厕所使用情况与其他更直接的心理健康结果之间的关联。
