Table 2.
Subgroup analyses of prevalence of depressive symptoms in empty-nest elderly.
| Subgroups | Categories (number of studies) | Effect size (%) | 95% CI | Events | Sample size |
I2 | P (within subgroup) | P (across subgroups) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publication language | Chinese (n=38) | 37.7 | 30.2 | 45.8 | 6,211 | 19,271 | 98.86 | <0.001 | 0.25 (0.62) |
| English (n=8) | 43.1 | 25.1 | 63.0 | 6,504 | 17,520 | 99.80 | <0.001 | ||
| Study site | Multicenter (n=37) | 39.2 | 31.3 | 47.6 | 11,596 | 32,860 | 99.40 | <0.001 | 0.07 (0.80) |
| Single site (n=9) | 36.4 | 20.3 | 56.3 | 1,119 | 3,931 | 98.79 | <0.001 | ||
| Economic region | East (n=17) | 33.1 | 22.9 | 45.0 | 3,010 | 13,220 | 99.05 | <0.001 | 1.57 (0.21) |
| Other areas (n=28) | 42.4 | 33.7 | 51.7 | 9,650 | 23,385 | 99.32 | <0.001 | ||
| Sampling method | Random (n=28) | 42.6 | 32.6 | 53.2 | 9,962 | 28,270 | 99.52 | <0.001 | 1.42 (0.23) |
| Others (n=14) | 33.0 | 22.5 | 45.4 | 2,585 | 7,935 | 98.95 | <0.001 | ||
| Definition of elderly by age | ≥60 (n=41) | 36.3 | 29.0 | 44.4 | 12,039 | 35,292 | 99.39 | <0.001 | 0.09 (0.76) |
| Other definition (n=3) | 40.2 | 19.9 | 64.5 | 454 | 1,225 | 98.28 | <0.001 | ||
| Sample sizea | <362 (n=23) | 39.9 | 31.7 | 48.8 | 1,707 | 4,587 | 96.62 | <0.001 | 0.14 (0.71) |
| ≥362 (n=23) | 37.3 | 27.3 | 48.5 | 11,008 | 32,204 | 99.65 | <0.001 | ||
| Assessment scale | GDS or GMS (n=32) | 41.3 | 32.6 | 50.5 | 6,723 | 19,296 | 99.10 | <0.001 | 0.97 (0.33) |
| Other scale (n=14) | 32.8 | 20.8 | 47.6 | 5,992 | 17,495 | 99.62 | <0.001 | ||
| Living area | Rural (n=4) | 36.6 | 15.7 | 64.1 | 2,465 | 4,492 | 99.44 | <0.001 | 0.12 (0.73) |
| Urban (n=4) | 30.3 | 12.3 | 57.3 | 1,315 | 3,039 | 99.29 | <0.001 | ||
| Marital status | Married (n=11) | 26.6 | 16.2 | 40.6 | 3,365 | 9,022 | 99.31 | <0.001 | 3.51 (0.06) |
| Othersb (n=11) | 44.6 | 31.9 | 58.1 | 1,853 | 3,566 | 97.83 | <0.001 | ||
| Age | 80 years and above (n=10) | 33.3 | 19.1 | 51.5 | 576 | 1,343 | 96.51 | <0.001 | 0.23 (0.63) |
| 60-79 years (n=10) | 27.8 | 15.2 | 45.3 | 3,925 | 10,326 | 99.54 | <0.001 | ||
| Living arrangement | Live alone (n=12) | 39.2 | 31.1 | 47.9 | 1,101 | 3,092 | 94.36 | <0.001 | 9.61 (0.002) |
| Not alone (n=12) | 22.6 | 17.1 | 29.4 | 2,002 | 9,117 | 97.63 | <0.001 | ||
| Education level | Primary and below (n=9) | 30.8 | 15.7 | 51.4 | 3,505 | 7,839 | 99.48 | <0.001 | 0.45 (0.50) |
| Secondary and above (n=9) | 24.0 | 15.9 | 34.5 | 892 | 2,965 | 96.77 | <0.001 | ||
| Severity of depressive symptoms | Mild (n=25) | 37.4 | 30.2 | 45.1 | 6,875 | 20,613 | 98.95 | <0.001 | 53.38 (<0.001) |
| Moderate or severe (n=25) | 9.8 | 7.3 | 13.1 | 3,031 | 20,613 | 98.06 | <0.001 | ||
a
Dichotomized using the median split method. bNever married, widowed, divorced, or separated. Bolded values: P<0.05.
GDS, Geriatric Depression Scale; GMS, Geriatric Mental State Schedule.