Late life anxiety and depression symptoms, and suicidal behaviors in racial/ethnic minority older adults in community-based organizations and community clinics in the U.S.

Abstract

Objective: Late life anxiety and depression represent a significant source of disability, with racial/ethnic minority older adults in the U.S. showing marked disparities in healthy aging. Community-based organizations (CBOs) and community clinics serve these populations for preventive care, yet few identify their mental health service needs. We examine the association between race/ethnicity and risk of mild-tosevere symptoms of anxiety and depression, and suicidal behaviors in minority older adults. Method: Data come from the multisite randomized controlled trial Building Community Capacity for Disability Prevention for Minority Elders, which screened 1,057 adults (45.5% Asian, 26.8% Latinx, 15.0% non-Latinx Black, 8.5% non-Latinx White, and 4.2% American Indian) aged 60+ years at CBOs and clinics in Massachusetts, New York, Florida, and Puerto Rico. Screened participants completed the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) for anxiety symptoms, the Geriatric Depression Scale-15 (GDS-15) for depression symptoms, and the Paykel Suicide Risk Questionnaire for suicidal behaviors. Results: 28.1% of older adults reported mildto-severe anxiety symptoms, 30.1% reported mild-to-severe depression symptoms, and 4.3% reported at least one suicidal behavior. Compared to non-Latinx Whites, Latinxs had higher odds of mild-to-severe anxiety and depression symptoms and one or more suicidal behaviors, and Asians had higher odds of mildto-severe depression symptoms only. Conclusions: There is an urgent need to improve outreach for screening and preventive mental health care for minority older adults. Expanding outreach and communitybased capacity to identify and treat minority older adults with mental health conditions represents an opportunity to prevent disability. Public Significance StatementOur results underscore the importance of outreaching minority older adults participating in communitybased organizations (CBOs) and clinics for mental health screening given the high prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms, and suicidal behaviors. CBOs and clinics may offer opportunities for early identification of their mental health problems and provide mental health literacy and connection to secondary prevention programs to mitigate their higher risk of disability.

Prevalence and correlates of depression and anxiety symptoms among older adults in Shenzhen, China: a cross-sectional population-based study

“… 9 In the USA, a multisite randomised controlled trial of community-based older adults reported that 28.1% of participants had mild to severe anxiety symptoms and 30.1% had mild to severe depressive symptoms, with differences in prevalence between ethnic groups. 12 The current study found that the prevalence of depression and anxiety in the community elderly population in Shenzhen was 10.4% and 11.3%, respectively, which was higher than the results of the national population-based epidemiological survey on mental disorders conducted by Huang et al , 2 but lower than the results of studies on the mental health of the elderly population in other regions of China. 6 8 21 Regional differences in study populations greatly influence the findings.…”

“…8 Mental disorders in the elderly population are a challenge worldwide, and an increasing number of studies report a high probability of anxiety and depression among this demographic. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15] In Southern Europe, 9 the gender gap in depression prevalence is wider than in Northern Europe, with older men having a 21% lower risk of depression than older women at 38%. This correlation is attributed to psychosocial, socioeconomic and health factors.…”

“…In South Asia, 11 a cross-sectional study in Bangladesh found that 55.5% of rural older adults had depression, with gender, age, place of residence, marital status, visual impairment, loneliness, previous falls and fear of falling as important determinants. In a multisite randomised controlled trial of a community-based older adult population in the USA, 12 28.1% of 1057 older adults reported mild to severe anxiety symptoms, and 30.1% reported mild to severe depressive symptoms. Studies of mental disorders in elderly populations show that females have a higher risk of developing mental disorders than males.…”

The left temporal transverse cortex is affected by poor sleep quality, which in turn contributes to depressive symptoms in older adults

“…On the other hand, the older population also faces a range of risks and challenges. Prior studies have shown that there were high rates of mental health disorders (typically depression and anxiety) in the older population throughout the world [ [ 38 , 39 ]]. In addition, this group is also more likely to experience decreased sleep quality [ 40 ].…”

Construct and Criterion Validation of Social Phobia Inventory Indonesian Version

“…It was found that the presence of disturbances in the mindset of individuals with SAD will cause dysfunction in social communication skills and lead to major depressive disorder or MDD (Maleki et al, 2020). These symptoms of depression if not handled properly will result in individuals having suicidal thought or even suicidal behavior (Jimenez et al, 2022).…”