ArticleBMC public health2018
Obesity and the onset of depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older adults in China: evidence from the CHARLS.
Article in BMC public health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 145 papers.
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
145 citing papers in PubMed, 241 citations in OpenAlex.
- Behavioral and Psychological Correlates of Depressive Symptoms in Korean Women: Attenuation of the Perceived Body Size Association After Adjustment.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Association Between Body Mass Index and Depressive Symptom Trajectories Among Chinese Middle and Old Aged Adults: A Cohort Analysis Based on the CHARLS.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- The Impact of Working Beyond Retirement on Cognitive Function Among the Retirement-Transition Population.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Association of testosterone-to-estradiol ratio with inflammation and clinical outcomes among postmenopausal HFpEF.Endocrine connections · 2026Article
- Rural-Urban Disparities in the Cognitive Returns to Education Among Chinese Older Adults: A Longitudinal, Causal Robustness, and Mechanism Analysis.Research square · 2026Article
- Epicardial adipose tissue density, myocardial fibrosis, and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in postmenopausal women: a mediation analysis.Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery · 2026Article
- Effects of sarcopenic obesity on depressive symptoms and their trajectories: findings from the CHARLS 2011-2020.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Association between intrinsic capacity and chronic lung disease among middle-aged and older adults: evidence from CHARLS and ELSA.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Joint association of depression and physical activity with incident cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CMM) among middle-aged and older adults in China.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Observational
- Association Between Depressive Symptoms and Incidence of Stroke in a Population With Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Syndrome Stages 0 to 3: Nationwide Prospective Cohort Study.Interactive journal of medical research · 2026Article
- Development and internal validation of a frailty prediction model in adults aged ≥ 45 years with obesity: evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS).BMC public health · 2026Article
- Prevalence and risk factors of headaches in middle-aged and older Chinese adults with hypertension: a cross-sectional study based on CHARLS.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Mediating role of the weight-adjusted-waist index in the association between sedentary behavior and depression: A cross-sectional study.Global medical genetics · 2026Article
- Exploring the mediating roles of diet and physical activity in the association between different obesity phenotypes and risk of depression: A cox survival analysis approach.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- Circadian syndrome, not metabolic syndrome, is a significant predictor of mild cognitive impairment in middle-aged and older adults - The CHARLS survey during 2015-2018.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Dynapenic abdominal obesity and symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: results from a large cross-sectional study of middle-aged and older adults in China.Annals of joint · 2026Article
- Two-cohort machine learning approach for predicting the risk of secondary hyperlipidemia in patients with depression.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Article
- A cross-sectional study of multidimensional psychosocial stress and depression risk.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2026Article
- Impact of C-reactive protein-triglyceride-glucose and systemic immune-inflammation indices on obstructive sleep apnea in older adults with depression.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Article
85 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe association between obesity and depression has been documented in previous systematic studies but remains controversial. Many prospective studies have focused on children and youth, and several studies have examined this relationship among older populations. This study of the changes in obesity status aimed to examine the association between depression and obesity among middle-aged and elderly adults in China.
methodsThe data originated from the follow-up survey (2011 and 2013-2015) of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) and included 3337 residents aged at least 45 years who completed a physical examination and were evaluated with the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10), which assessed depressive symptoms. Obesity status was defined by body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) according to Chinese criteria. A time-dependent Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate the relationship between obesity status and depressive symptoms.
resultsThe rate of depression in men and women was 26.67 and 38.37%, respectively. Based on BMI, the proportion of the population that was overweight and obese was 28.07 and 9.26%, respectively, in males and 35.03 and 16.84%, respectively, in females. Males with obesity were less likely to suffer from depressive symptoms than males with a normal weight (ORHR = 0.506, 95% CI = 0.347~ 0.736). Based on WC, the proportion of abdominal obesity was 49.35% in males and 73.65% in females. Males with abdominal obesity were less likely to suffer from depressive symptoms than males without abdominal obesity (ORHR = 0.775, 95% CI = 0.644~ 0.933).
conclusionObesity is more likely to be associated with the onset of depression in males than in females. However, regardless of underweight or overweight status, the relationship between weight and depressive symptoms is negatively associated among females and males. In conclusion, both BMI and WC can be used as tools for examining the association between obesity and depression.
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.