ArticleEnvironmental health perspectives2014
Ambient air pollution and depressive symptoms in older adults: results from the MOBILIZE Boston study.
Article in Environmental health perspectives, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 65 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
65 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Air pollution, depressive and anxiety disorders, and brain effects: A systematic review.Neurotoxicology · 2022Pooled it
- Association between particulate matter air pollution and risk of depression and suicide: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2021Pooled it
- Air Pollution (Particulate Matter) Exposure and Associations with Depression, Anxiety, Bipolar, Psychosis and Suicide Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Environmental health perspectives · 2019Pooled it
- The association of depressive symptoms in children with indoor and outdoor short-term exposure to particulate matter.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Differential association between ambient PMiScience · 2026Article
- Short-term PMBMC public health · 2026Article
- Climate change effects in older people's health: A scoping review.Journal of advanced nursing · 2025Article
- Air pollution and depression symptoms in middle-aged and older adults in Los Angeles County.International archives of occupational and environmental health · 2025Article
- Shadows in the Air: Mental health vulnerabilities under PM10 and PM2.5, before and after COVID-19.SSM - population health · 2025Article
- Long-term exposure to air pollutants, meteorological factors, and mental health status: a nationwide population-based study with multilevel regression analysis.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Article
- The increased risk of exposure to fine particulate matter for depression incidence is mediated by elevated TNF-R1: the Healthy Aging Longitudinal Study.Environmental health and preventive medicine · 2025Article
- Interaction effects of exposure to air pollution and social activities on cognitive function in middle-aged and older Chinese adults based on a nationwide cohort study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Airborne Exposure to Pollutants and Mental Health: A Review with Implications for United States Veterans.Current environmental health reports · 2024Review
- PMProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Trajectories of depressive symptom and its association with air pollution: evidence from the Mr. OS and Ms. OS Hong Kong cohort study.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- Patterns in negative emotions, sleep disorders, and temperature: Evidence from microblog big data.Heliyon · 2023Article
- Correlation between air pollution and cognitive impairment among older individuals: empirical evidence from China.BMC geriatrics · 2023Article
- Article
- Long-term Exposure to Multiple Ambient Air Pollutants and Association With Incident Depression and Anxiety.JAMA psychiatry · 2023Article
- Effect of Farmers' Awareness of Climate Change on Their Willingness to Adopt Low-Carbon Production: Based on the TAM-SOR Model.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
5 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundExposure to ambient air pollution, particularly from traffic, has been associated with adverse cognitive outcomes, but the association with depressive symptoms remains unclear.
objectivesWe investigated the association between exposure to ambient air and traffic pollution and the presence of depressive symptoms among 732 Boston-area adults ≥ 65 years of age (78.1 ± 5.5 years, mean ± SD).
methodsWe assessed depressive symptoms during home interviews using the Revised Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD-R). We estimated residential distance to the nearest major roadway as a marker of long-term exposure to traffic pollution and assessed short-term exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5), sulfates, black carbon (BC), ultrafine particles, and gaseous pollutants, averaged over the 2 weeks preceding each assessment. We used generalized estimating equations to estimate the odds ratio (OR) of a CESD-R score ≥ 16 associated with exposure, adjusting for potential confounders. In sensitivity analyses, we considered CESD-R score as a continuous outcome and mean annual residential BC as an alternate marker of long-term exposure to traffic pollution.
resultsWe found no evidence of a positive association between depressive symptoms and long-term exposure to traffic pollution or short-term changes in pollutant levels. For example, we found an OR of CESD-R score ≥ 16 of 0.67 (95% CI: 0.46, 0.98) per interquartile range (3.4 μg/m(3)) increase in PM2.5 over the 2 weeks preceding assessment.
conclusionsWe found no evidence suggesting that ambient air pollution is associated with depressive symptoms among older adults living in a metropolitan area in attainment of current U.S. regulatory standards.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.