The association between living alone and depressive symptoms and the role of pet ownership among Japanese workers.
BMC Public Health
; 23(1): 1769, 2023 09 11.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37697320
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Living alone has been positively associated with the prevalence of depressive symptoms. We examined how a combination of living alone and pet ownership relates to depressive symptoms.METHODS:
As part of the Japan Epidemiology Collaboration on Occupational Health Study, we conducted a survey on health-related lifestyles, including living arrangements and pet ownership, among 12,763 employees of five companies in 2018-2021. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the 11-item Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (cutoff score ≥ 9). A Poisson regression model with a robust variance estimator was used to calculate prevalence ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI) while adjusting for covariates.RESULTS:
Among the participants, 30.9% were depressed, 17.7% had pets, and 29.1% lived alone. Compared to individuals living with others but not with a pet, those living alone and not with a pet had a 1.17 times higher prevalence ratio of depressive symptoms (95% CI 1.08-1.26). The corresponding figures were 1.03 (95% CI 0.95-1.11) for those living with others and pet(s) and 1.42 (95% CI 1.18-1.69) for those living alone but with pet(s).CONCLUSION:
Living alone was significantly associated with a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms. The association was rather stronger among individuals with vs. without pets. Pet ownership may not be associated with decreased depressive symptoms.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Depression
/
Pets
/
Home Environment
/
East Asian People
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
BMC Public Health
Journal subject:
SAUDE PUBLICA
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country: