Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between depression and chronic lung diseases (CLDs) among Chinese older adults. METHOD: The data for this cross-sectional study were drawn from the 2015 wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale, with a CES-D score of 10 indicating depression. CLDs were determined by self-reported physician diagnosis. Multiple logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between depression and CLDs. Smooth curve fitting was performed to explore potential dose–response relationships. RESULTS: A total of 6970 participants were included in this study. The median and interquartile age range was 66.0 (63.0–72.0) years, 3436 (49.3%) were female, and 1128 (16.2%) had CLDs. Depression was positively associated with CLDs (odds ratio [OR]: 1.20, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02–1.41) after adjusting for age, sex, educational level, marital status, residence region, smoking status, drinking status, nighttime sleep duration, social participation, cooking fuel, body mass index, disability, and comorbidities. When CES-D scores were categorized into quintiles, compared to the quintile 1 group, the quintile 4 and quintile 5 groups showed increased CLDs odds of 41% (OR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.10–1.82) and 42% (OR: 1.42, 95% CI: 1.09–1.84), respectively, after adjusting for all covariates. Smooth curve fitting indicated a positive linear relationship between the CES-D scores and CLDs. A series of sensitivity analyses supported this result. CONCLUSIONS: Depression could be positively associated with CLDs in Chinese older adults. Future studies are warranted to test this association. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-026-26746-1.