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Depression, anxiety and mental health in aging

Guest Editors:
Y Selvamani: SRM Institute of Science and Technology, India
Bin Yu: Tianjin University, China


BMC Geriatrics welcomed for submissions to our Collection on Depression, anxiety and mental health in aging. Mental health is a growing area of concern for older people, with disorders such as depression and anxiety becoming increasingly prevalent, affecting an estimated 1 in 4 older adults.  These can result from changes in physical health, bereavement and other events impacting individuals such as alterations in medications, loneliness or retirement.  If not addressed, poor mental health may cause lasting harm to older people.  

Meet the Guest Editors

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Y Selvamani: SRM Institute of Science and Technology, India

Dr Y Selvamani is currently a faculty of Public Health at the SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, India. His research focuses on life course determinants of health and wellbeing, mental health, quality of aging, measurement issues in mental health and aging and global public health.


 

Bin Yu: Tianjin University, China

Bin Yu is an Associate Professor in Health Psychology at the Institute of Applied Psychology, Tianjin University.  His current research is focused on the association between social isolation, loneliness and health among older adults, effects of social relationship quality on the stress response. His areas of specialization include Health behaviors, Life Style and Health, Geriatric Psychiatry, and Psychophysiology.



About the collection

BMC Geriatrics welcomed submissions to our Collection on Depression, anxiety and mental health in aging. Mental health is a growing area of concern for older people, with disorders such as depression and anxiety becoming increasingly prevalent, affecting an estimated 1 in 4 older adults.  These can result from changes in physical health, bereavement and other events impacting individuals such as alterations in medications, loneliness or retirement.  If not addressed, poor mental health may cause lasting harm to older people.  

In support of UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) "To ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages", BMC Geriatrics launched a collection on mental health in aging.  

This collection aimed to focus on research about mental health in older people, including depression and depressive symptoms, anxiety and anxiety symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder, isolation and loneliness, stigma about mental illness, as well as access to health services to manage these symptoms. 

We were interested in qualitative and quantitative evidence pertaining to a wide variety of aspects, with key topics including, but not limited to:  

  • Mood and anxiety disorders and the symptoms of these conditions in older people
  • Age related changes in previously diagnosed disorders
  • Interaction of physical and mental health
  • Access to mental health services
  • Older adults’ experiences as mental health care service users


 

Image credit: © mrmohock / stock.adobe.com

  1. Changes in sleep, physical activity and mental health were observed in older adults during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here we describe effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on older adult mental health,...

    Authors: Mikael Anne Greenwood-Hickman, Lily N. Shapiro, Shirley Chen, Paul K. Crane, Laura B. Harrington, KatieRose Johnson, Andrea Z. LaCroix, Liam G. Lane, Susan M. McCurry, Pamela A. Shaw and Dori E. Rosenberg
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2024 24:676
  2. Prior research has identified the mediating effect of physical activity in the relationship between self-perceptions of aging and physical health. However, this impact on mental health is unknown, and the infl...

    Authors: Jung-Yu Liao, Yin-Yi Lien, Yung Liao and Yin-Ju Lien
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2024 24:596
  3. Depression is a prevalent issue among older adults, affecting their quality of life and overall well-being. Exercise is an effective means of relieving depressive symptoms in older adults, but the optimal dose...

    Authors: Lili Tang, Lin Zhang, Yanbo Liu, Yan Li, Lijuan Yang, Mingxuan Zou, Huiran Yang, Lingyu Zhu, Ruihong Du, Ye Shen, Haoyu Li, Yong Yang and Zhijun Li
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2024 24:505
  4. Mental health is a matter of quality of life among older adults. This study aimed to explore the association between the socioeconomic status (SES) perception and mental health of older adults using data from ...

    Authors: Xiaoxing Ran, Xiaodong Zhang, Wenyi Gong and Gong Chen
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2024 24:499
  5. The transition into residential aged care is frequently associated with a reduction in physical activity, social engagement, and emotional wellbeing. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of a 26-day internationa...

    Authors: Ruth Brookman, Zac Hulm, Leigh Hearn, Joyce Siette, Nitish Mathew, Saili Deodhar, Angela Cass, Jamilla Smith, Belinda Kenny, Karen P. Y. Liu and Celia B. Harris
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2024 24:435
  6. Depression is a multifaceted condition with a high prevalence and burden to society. Handgrip strength (HGS) and gait speed (GS) are indices of physical health, which is linked to mental health. Previous studi...

    Authors: Tina Nazari, Mitra Moodi, Hossein Fakhrzadeh, Huriye Khodabakhshi, Masoumeh Khorashadizadeh, Seyed Masoud Arzaghi, Shervan Shoaee, Mehdi Varmaghani, Hanieh-Sadat Ejtahed and Farshad Sharifi
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2024 24:393
  7. Retirement and aging are phenomena that often occur simultaneously and lead to various physical and psychological changes in older adults. Retirement syndrome consists of symptoms such as feelings of emptiness...

    Authors: Sakineh Qorbani, Zahra Amrollah Majdabadi, Nasrin Nikpeyma, Shima Haghani, Sahar Keyvanloo Shahrestanaki and Sarieh Poortaghi
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2024 24:333
  8. This study aimed investigate the impact of intergenerational support on the mental health of older adults in urban China. It also sought to evaluate the chain mediation effect of attitudes toward younger peopl...

    Authors: Jiahong Xu, Youwei Wang, Justin C. Cheung and Yanlong Yin
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2024 24:323
  9. Previous studies have proven the positive relationship between healthy lifestyles and cognitive function in older adults. However, the specific impacts and mechanisms require further investigation. Therefore, ...

    Authors: Guowei Xian, Yulin Chai, Yunna Gong, Wenfeng He, Chunxiao Ma, Xiaolin Zhang, Jing Zhang and Yong Ma
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2024 24:299
  10. Anxiety is one of the most common but often overlooked mood-related nonmotor symptoms in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). To improve the well-being of people with PD, it is important to understand the imp...

    Authors: Konstantin G. Heimrich, Aline Schönenberg, Sarah Mendorf, Juliane Moussaoui and Tino Prell
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2024 24:298
  11. Loneliness is a negative emotional state that can lead to physical and mental health problems. This study’s objective was to acquire an in-depth understanding of the heterogeneity and the predictors of lonelin...

    Authors: Yuecong Wang, Shasha Li, Xiaoyue Zou, Yingyuan Ni, Lijun Xu, Shufang Liao, Lijun Cao, Jianyi Bao, Yue Li and Yingxue Xi
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2024 24:195
  12. Little is understood about the association between psychosomatic symptoms and advanced cancer among older Chinese patients.

    Authors: Mo Tang, Zhongge Su, Yi He, Ying Pang, Yuhe Zhou, Yu Wang, Yongkui Lu, Yu Jiang, Xinkun Han, Lihua Song, Liping Wang, Zimeng Li, Xiaojun Lv, Yan Wang, Juntao Yao, Xiaohong Liu…
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2024 24:185
  13. With the rapid population aging, healthy aging has become a concern for society as a whole. In this study, loneliness and its relationships with activity-related individual factors were examined among older Ch...

    Authors: Jiazhou Wang, Yueyue Zhou, Qiuxia Zhang, Jing Li, Dehua Zhai, Jia Li, Buxin Han and Zhengkui Liu
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2024 24:42

    The Correction to this article has been published in BMC Geriatrics 2024 24:270

  14. Physical activity(PA) is associated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among older adults, and both are associated with mood, such as depression. However, the indirect effects of PA on HRQoL in older ...

    Authors: Xiuxiu Li, Pengfei Wang, Yihua Jiang, Yinghua Yang, Feng Wang, Fei Yan, Ming Li, Wenjia Peng and Ying Wang
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2024 24:26
  15. Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is highly correlated with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the prevalence and risk factors for SCH in older patients with MDD have rarely been reported in China.

    Authors: Min Li, Xiu-Wen Wang, Xiao-Qian Wang, Jian-Jun Zhang and Xiang-Yang Zhang
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2024 24:15
  16. Self-determination in old age is essential for people’s experiences of good subjective health and quality of life. The knowledge concerning how frail older people with decreased cognition perceive their abilit...

    Authors: Isabelle Andersson Hammar, Theresa Westgård, Synneve Dahlin-Ivanoff and Katarina Wilhelmson
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2024 24:7
  17. Many studies have investigated the relationship between social support and the prevention of elder abuse; however, their results are somehow inconsistent in terms of the association. This systematic review and...

    Authors: Behnaz Marzbani, Erfan Ayubi, Majid Barati and Parvaneh Sahrai
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2023 23:869
  18. Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) are among the most feared age-related conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate a brief psychological intervention to promote adaptive coping in older a...

    Authors: Francesca R Farina, John Regan, Melissa Marquez, Hosanna An, Patricia O’Loughlin, Pavithra Pavithra, Michelle Taddeo, Rachel C Knight, Marc Bennett, Bert Lenaert and James W Griffith
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2023 23:786
  19. Delirium is a prevalent neuropsychiatric medical phenomenon that causes serious emergency outcomes, including mortality and morbidity. It also increases the suffering and the economic burden for families and c...

    Authors: Md Parvez Mosharaf, Khorshed Alam, Jeff Gow and Rashidul Alam Mahumud
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2023 23:767
  20. With the rapid aging of the population structure, and the suicide ideation rate also increasing year by year, the ratio of people over 65 to the total number of deaths is increasing yearly. The study provides ...

    Authors: Su-Jung Liao, Yu-Wen Fang and Tse-Tsung Liu
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2023 23:749

    The Correction to this article has been published in BMC Geriatrics 2024 24:236

  21. The study aimed to identify the associations of happiness and factors related to physical and mental health, leisure, and sports activities amongst older adults in Abu Dhabi. The sample comprised 1,004 partici...

    Authors: Masood Badri, Mugheer Alkhaili, Hamad Aldhaheri, Guang Yang, Saad Yaaqeib, Muna Albahar and Asma Alrashdi
    Citation: BMC Geriatrics 2023 23:554