Synergistic effect of interaction between perceived health and social activity on depressive symptoms in the middle-aged and elderly: a population-based longitudinal study

Objective To examine the synergistic effect of interaction between perceived health and social activity on depressive symptoms. Methods We investigated whether the interaction between perceived health and social activity has a synergistic effect on depressive symptoms in the middle-aged and elderly using data from 6590 respondents aged 45 and older in the Korean Longitudinal Study on Aging (KLoSA), 2006–2012. A generalised linear mixed-effects model was used to investigate the association in a longitudinal data form. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression 10 Scale (CES-D10). Perceived health and level of social activity were categorical variables with three values. Participation in six social activities was assessed. Results Interactions between perceived health status and social activity were statistically significant for almost all social activity/perceived health combinations. Addition of the interaction term significantly decreased CES-D10 scores, confirming the synergistic effect of the interaction between perceived health status and social activity (‘normal×moderate’, β=−0.1826; ‘poor×moderate’, β=−0.5739; ‘poor×active’, β=−0.8935). In addition, we performed stratified analyses by region: urban or rural. In urban respondents, the additional effect of the interaction term decreased CES-D10 scores and all social activity/perceived health combinations were statistically significant (‘normal×moderate’, β=−0.2578; ‘normal×active’, β=−0.3945; ‘poor×moderate’, β=−0.5739; ‘poor×active’, β=−0.8935). In rural respondents, only one social activity/perceived health combination was statistically significant, and the additional effect of the interaction term showed no consistent trend on CES-D10 scores. Conclusions The interaction between perceived health and social activity has a synergistic effect on depressive symptoms; the additional effect of the interaction term significantly decreased CES-D10 scores in our models.