ArticleBMC public health2026
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure and depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older Chinese adults: a prospective cohort study using CHARLS data.
Article in BMC public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDepressive symptoms are highly prevalent among older Chinese adults, and environmental pollutants such as PAHs may contribute to this disease burden. This study aimed to identify modifiable PAH‑related risk factors to inform targeted preventive interventions.
methodsWe included 5,006 participants from the 2015 wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) who were free of depression at baseline. Exposure to 16 ambient PAHs was assigned based on annual average concentrations matched to participants’ residential counties. Incident depressive symptoms were defined as a CES‑D‑10 score ≥ 10 at the 2018 follow‑up. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs), along with subgroup, interaction, and sensitivity analyses.
resultsThe cumulative incidence of depressive symptoms was 21.8%. Five individual PAHs were significantly associated with depressive symptoms: acenaphthylene (Acy) was associated with a reduced risk (OR = 0.857, 95%CI: 0.780–0.940, P = 0.001), whereas benzo[k]fluoranthene (BkF; OR = 1.035), anthracene (Ant; OR = 1.136), acenaphthene (Ace; OR = 1.166), and fluorene (Flu; OR = 1.066) were associated with an elevated risk (all P < 0.05). Subgroup analyses revealed stronger associations among participants aged < 60 years (9 significant PAHs) than among those aged ≥ 60 years (no significant associations), with more significant PAH associations observed in males (4 compounds) than in females (2 compounds). Four significant interactions were identified: older age attenuated the effects of Ace, Ant, and Phe, whereas smoking significantly enhanced the pro‑depressive effect of BaP (all P < 0.05).
conclusionPAH exposure is a modifiable risk factor for depressive symptoms among middle‑aged and older Chinese adults, with marked heterogeneity across demographic and behavioral subgroups. Public health strategies should include reducing solid fuel use, strengthening air quality standards, and integrating depression screening for high‑exposure populations, particularly younger males and smokers. Notably, this is the first prospective study to identify a protective association between Acy and depressive symptoms, which contrasts with the well‑documented neurotoxicity of other PAH congeners.
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.