Lifestyle factors, physical health, and life satisfaction among Chinese community-dwelling older adults: a longitudinal analysis

Abstract Background The study aims to investigate the long-term effects of lifestyle-related factors and physical health on subjective well-being among Chinese community-dwelling older adults with transitions in mental health conditions. Methods Using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), the analytic sample of this study included 1068 older adults who had participated in the surveys in both 2011 and 2018. Multivariate regression was used to examine the longitudinal associations of lifestyle-related factors and physical health with the subjective well-being of older adults. Additionally, distinct trajectories of their depressive symptoms were considered. Results Multimorbidity was found to be significantly related to baseline and follow-up depressive risk in older adults. Shorter sleep duration was associated with baseline depression risk. Compared to nondrinkers, current alcohol drinkers reported significantly more severe depressive symptoms. At baseline, current smokers were more likely to have a lower degree of life satisfaction than nonsmokers. Among older adults with chronic depression at the 7-year follow-up, former smokers tended to have lower life satisfaction than nonsmokers. Conclusions Our findings identified drinking alcohol and having a shorter sleep duration as modifiable lifestyle-related risk factors for late-life depression and smoking as a detrimental factor for life satisfaction in Chinese community-dwelling older adults. Multimorbidity was a significant predictor of more depressive symptoms at the 7-year follow-up. Our findings have implications for future psychosocial interventions that target the alleviation of depressive symptoms and the promotion of life satisfaction in older Chinese people based on their different long-term mental and physical health conditions.