Ma Xinyan, Zhao Hanqing, Wang Yan, Hou Mengdi, Liu Wei, Sun Minghui
The Third Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou, China.
Hunan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Changsha, China.
Environ Health. 2025 Jul 22;24(1):50. doi: 10.1186/s12940-025-01193-4.
Exposure to mold and solid cooking fuels represents a significant environmental health concern, contributing substantially to indoor air pollution among elderly populations. However, the association between mold exposure, household fuel use, and mental health remains poorly understood. Here we examine individual and joint associations of these exposures on depression, anxiety, and their co-occurrence in older adults.
We evaluated 9,243 elderly participants from the eighth survey wave of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) to explore the associations between mold exposure, solid fuel use, and depression, anxiety, and their co-occurrence. Multivariable logistic regression models were employed to quantify these relationships, with adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) reported.
The study identified a depression prevalence of 13.61% and an anxiety prevalence of 11.79%. Participants exposed to mold demonstrated significantly higher odds of depression (OR = 2.26, 95% CI = 1.93-2.63), anxiety (OR = 2.11, 95% CI = 1.80-2.48), and their co-occurrence (OR = 2.58, 95% CI = 2.10-3.16), compared to participants without mold exposure. Moreover, the use of solid fuels for cooking, as opposed to clean fuels, was correlated with higher occurrence of depression (OR = 1.27, 95% CI = 1.10-1.47), anxiety (OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.12-1.52), and their co-occurrence (OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.10-1.67). Notably, solid fuel use appeared to attenuate the association between mold exposure and anxiety (Relative excess risk due to interaction [RERI] = -0.22, 95% CI = -0.44, -0.01).
The study found that exposure to mold and use of solid fuels may be associated with higher prevalence of depression, anxiety, and their co-occurrence. Further prospective studies are warranted to validate our findings.
接触霉菌和使用固体烹饪燃料是重大的环境卫生问题，对老年人群的室内空气污染有很大影响。然而，霉菌接触、家庭燃料使用与心理健康之间的关联仍知之甚少。在此，我们研究这些暴露因素对老年人抑郁症、焦虑症及其共病的个体和联合关联。
我们评估了中国健康与养老追踪调查（CLHLS）第八轮调查中的9243名老年参与者，以探究霉菌接触、固体燃料使用与抑郁症、焦虑症及其共病之间的关联。采用多变量逻辑回归模型来量化这些关系，并报告调整后的优势比（aOR）和95%置信区间（CI）。
研究发现抑郁症患病率为13.61%，焦虑症患病率为11.79%。与未接触霉菌的参与者相比，接触霉菌的参与者患抑郁症（OR = 2.26，95% CI = 1.93 - 2.63）、焦虑症（OR = 2.11，95% CI = 1.80 - 2.48）及其共病（OR = 2.58，95% CI = 2.10 - 3.16）的几率显著更高。此外，与使用清洁燃料相比，使用固体燃料烹饪与抑郁症（OR = 1.27，95% CI = 1.10 - 1.47）、焦虑症（OR = 1.31，95% CI = 1.12 - 1.52）及其共病（OR = 1.36，95% CI = 1.10 - 1.67）的更高发生率相关。值得注意的是，使用固体燃料似乎减弱了霉菌接触与焦虑症之间的关联（交互作用导致的相对超额风险[RERI] = -0.22，95% CI = -0.44，-0.01）。
研究发现，接触霉菌和使用固体燃料可能与抑郁症、焦虑症及其共病的更高患病率相关。需要进一步的前瞻性研究来验证我们的发现。
