The relationship between depressive mood and subjective health in centenarians and near-centenarians: a cross-sectional study from Korean centenarian cohort

Abstract

Background

With the rapid increase in population longevity, more clinical attention is being paid to the overall health of long-lived people, especially centenarians. Subjective health, which is the perception of one’s health status, predicts both mortality and declining physical function in older adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors related to subjective health among centenarians and near-centenarians (ages ≥95) living in a rural area of South Korea.

Methods

A total of 101 participants were enrolled from four different regions (Gurye, Gokseong, Sunchang, and Damyang), known as the Longevity Belt in Korea. Variables assessing physical and mental health, including the results of blood tests, were examined. Factors associated with good subjective health were identified with logistic regression analysis.

Results

Fifty-six participants (59.6%) were subjectively healthy among the centenarians and near-centenarians. Logistic regression analysis revealed that depressive mood was the only factor associated with subjective health and was negatively correlated. The regression model explained 39% of the variance in subjective health.

Conclusions

These findings emphasize the importance of mental health at very advanced ages. Because depressive mood negatively correlates with subjective health, more attention is needed to prevent and manage mood symptoms of people of advanced ages, including centenarians.

Keywords:

• Subjective health
• depression
• Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)
• centenarian
• centenarian study

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all participants in this study.

Author contributions

Access to data and data analysis: MJ, MHS, and KP had full access to all the data in the study and took responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Concept and design: KP and SCP. Acquisition of data: All authors. Interpretation of data: MJ and KP. Drafting of the manuscript: MJ was responsible for writing the original draft of the manuscript; KP and SCP supervised it. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: All authors.

Ethics approval and patient consent statements

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Chonnam National University Hospital Institutional Review Board (CNUH 2018-151). Written informed consents were provided by all participants. The study was conducted according to the ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects detailed in the Declaration of Helsinki.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there are no potential conflicts of interest relevant to the publication of these results.

Data availability statement

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by grant [BCRI23069] from Chonnam National University Hospital Biomedical Research Institute and the fund from the Gugoksundam Longevity Belt Council.