Education Moderates the Association between Depressive Symptoms and Self-Rated Health among Older Adults with Cancer.

This study examined the association between depressive symptoms and self-rated health (SRH) and whether and how such association varies by education among older adults with cancer. Data came from the 2019 National Health Interview Survey. A total of 2,470 participants aged 65 or older who had been diagnosed with cancer by a doctor or other health professional were included in this study. Ordinal logistic regression was used to examine the association between depressive symptoms and SRH and whether and how such association varies by education among older adults with cancer. More depressive symptoms were associated with worse SRH. Such association became stronger with higher education among older adults with cancer. Findings confirm the associations between depressive symptoms and SRH among older adults with cancer. The differential impact of education on SRH and on the association between depressive symptoms and SRH highlights the importance of considering patients' educational attainment in a more comprehensive way when working with older adults with cancer. When conducting distress screening among cancer survivors, oncology social workers should be aware of the complex relationship between education and depression in relation to cancer survivors' SRH.

[1]  Kaipeng Wang,et al.  Examining the Pathoplastic Moderating Role of Education on the Association between Depressive Mood and Self-Rated Health among Cancer Survivors: A Population-Based Study , 2021, Current oncology.

[2]  R. High,et al.  Health-related and sociodemographic factors associated with physical frailty among older cancer survivors. , 2020, Journal of geriatric oncology.

[3]  S. Bhatia,et al.  Use of self-rated health to identify frailty and predict mortality in older adults with cancer. Results from the care study. , 2020 .

[4]  J. Schellekens,et al.  The role of education in explaining trends in self-rated health in the United States, 1972–2018 , 2020 .

[5]  H. Yoon,et al.  Gender differences in the effect of self-rated health (SRH) on all-cause mortality and specific causes of mortality among individuals aged 50 years and older , 2019, PloS one.

[6]  P. Caramelli,et al.  The influence of age, sex and education on the phenomenology of depressive symptoms in a population-based sample aged 75+ years with major depression: the Pietà Study , 2019, Aging & mental health.

[7]  H. Cohen,et al.  Cancer statistics for adults aged 85 years and older, 2019 , 2019, CA: a cancer journal for clinicians.

[8]  P. Solomon,et al.  The indirect effect of bullying on adolescent self-rated health through mental health: A gender specific pattern , 2019, Children and Youth Services Review.

[9]  C. Burant,et al.  Factors Affecting Perceptions of Disability and Self-Rated Health Among Older Adult, Long-Term Cancer Survivors , 2019, Journal of aging and health.

[10]  J. Holland,et al.  Prevalence and predictors of depression, pain, and fatigue in older‐ versus younger‐adult cancer survivors , 2018, Psycho-oncology.

[11]  R. Taylor,et al.  Social Isolation, Depression, and Psychological Distress Among Older Adults , 2018, Journal of aging and health.

[12]  Heyeon Park,et al.  Education as a Protective Factor Moderating the Effect of Depression on Memory Impairment in Elderly Women , 2018, Psychiatry investigation.

[13]  I. Mattos,et al.  Self-rated health and associated factors in elderly patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. , 2017, Cancer epidemiology.

[14]  S. Fosså,et al.  A controlled study of the influence of comorbidity on activities of daily living in elderly cancer survivors (the HUNT-3 survey). , 2017, Journal of geriatric oncology.

[15]  Jill F. Kilanowski.  Breadth of the Socio-Ecological Model , 2017, Journal of agromedicine.

[16]  H. Yatsuya,et al.  Functional capacity, self-rated health status, and psychosocial characteristics of employed cancer survivors in Japan , 2017 .

[17]  R. Bergmark,et al.  Disparities in health in the United States: An overview of the social determinants of health for otolaryngologists , 2017, Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology.

[18]  R. Zaboli,et al.  Conceptual Models of Social Determinants of Health: A Narrative Review , 2017, Iranian journal of public health.

[19]  Y. Jang,et al.  The Role of Internal Health Locus of Control in Relation to Self-Rated Health in Older Adults , 2017, Journal of gerontological social work.

[20]  K. Kayser,et al.  Institutional capacity to provide psychosocial oncology support services: A report from the Association of Oncology Social Work , 2016, Cancer.

[21]  G. Thornicroft,et al.  Attitudes Toward Mental Health Help Seeking as Predictors of Future Help-Seeking Behavior and Use of Mental Health Treatments. , 2016, Psychiatric services.

[22]  A. Shahrokni,et al.  Long-term Toxicity of Cancer Treatment in Older Patients. , 2016, Clinics in geriatric medicine.

[23]  R. Silliman,et al.  Predicting 5‐ and 10‐Year Survival in Older Women with Early‐Stage Breast Cancer: Self‐Rated Health and Walking Ability , 2015, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[24]  Lindsey M. King,et al.  Socio-ecological Model as a Framework for Overcoming Barriers and Challenges in Randomized Control Trials in Minority and Underserved Communities , 2014, International journal of MCH and AIDS.

[25]  C. Wolfson,et al.  The relationship of self-rated health with functional status, toxicity and mortality: results of a prospective pilot study of older patients with newly-diagnosed cancer. , 2013, Journal of geriatric oncology.

[26]  J. Millán-Calenti,et al.  Depressive symptoms and other factors associated with poor self‐rated health in the elderly: Gender differences , 2012, Geriatrics & gerontology international.

[27]  J. Flint,et al.  The impact of educational status on the clinical features of major depressive disorder among Chinese women , 2012, Journal of affective disorders.

[28]  Patrick Royston,et al.  Multiple Imputation by Chained Equations (MICE): Implementation in Stata , 2011 .

[29]  M. Jylhä.  What is self-rated health and why does it predict mortality? Towards a unified conceptual model. , 2009, Social science & medicine.

[30]  T. Strine,et al.  The PHQ-8 as a measure of current depression in the general population. , 2009, Journal of affective disorders.

[31]  J. Rohrer,et al.  Marital status, feeling depressed and self-rated health in rural female primary care patients. , 2008, Journal of evaluation in clinical practice.

[32]  S. Kunitz.  Sex, race and social role--history and the social determinants of health. , 2007, International journal of epidemiology.

[33]  Louis J. Wagner,et al.  Cancer‐related health worries and psychological distress among older adult, long‐term cancer survivors , 2006, Psycho-oncology.

[34]  Nancy L. Pedersen,et al.  Self-rated health among older adults: a cross-national comparison , 2005, European journal of ageing.

[35]  E. Rimm,et al.  Employment status, social ties, and caregivers' mental health. , 2004, Social science & medicine.

[36]  P. Mäntyselkä,et al.  Chronic pain and poor self-rated health. , 2003, JAMA.

[37]  D. Blazer,et al.  Depression Among Older Adults: A 20-Year Update on Five Common Myths and Misconceptions. , 2018, The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.

[38]  L. Dušek,et al.  Cancer in the elderly. , 2012, Reports of practical oncology and radiotherapy : journal of Greatpoland Cancer Center in Poznan and Polish Society of Radiation Oncology.