Pain and depression among Hong Kong Chinese older adults with knee osteoarthritis

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the relative contribution of pain, functional disability, sleep problems, and restricted social activity to depression among Chinese older adults with knee osteoarthritis. Cross-sectional analysis of data was conducted from a random sample of 201 older adults with knee osteoarthritis who were interviewed by well-trained interviewers. Almost one third (31.8%) of the 201 subjects reported elevated level of depressive symptoms assessed by Geriatric Depression Scale. Logistic regression analyses revealed that pain and social activity were significantly related to depression, while pain and restricted social activity were persistently associated with depression. This is of particular clinical importance because effective intervention could be developed to enhance social activity, which could break the link between pain and depression in this group of older patients.