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Social and Gender Inequalities in Depressive Symptoms Among Urban Older Adults of Latin America and the Caribbean

Beatriz Eugenia Alvarado, Maria Victoria Zunzunegui, Franois Béland, Maryline Sicotte and Lourdes Tellechea

¹ Groupe de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Santé, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada.
² Département de Médecine Sociale et Préventive, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada.
³ Département de l'Administration de la Santé, Université de Montréal, and SOLIDAGE, Lady Davis Institute, Jewish Hospital of Montréal, Québec, Canada.
⁴ Departamento de Geriatria, Universidad de la Republica, Montevideo, Uruguay.

Address correspondence to Beatriz E. Alvarado, MD, PhD, Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Université de Montréal, CP 6128, Succursale Centre Ville, H3C 3J7, Montréal, Québec, Canada. E-mail: be.alvarado.llano{at}umontreal.ca

Objectives. This study examined gender differences in depression by examining differential exposure and vulnerability to socioeconomic factors during the life course.

Methods. The data used for the analyses originated from a cross-national survey of older adults living in seven large Latin American cities. We examined associations between depressive symptomatology and socioeconomic conditions and health indicators in childhood, adulthood, and old age. We used the Geriatric Depression Scale to classify respondents with high levels of depressive symptoms.

Results. The prevalence of depression in the urban population of Latin America was relatively low, ranging across cities from 0.4 to 5.2% in men and from 0.3 to 9.5% in women. Women were more exposed to social and material disadvantages during their life course than men but were not more vulnerable to them than men. Current socioeconomic conditions and health status as well as functional disabilities mainly accounted for gender differences in the prevalence of depression. Additionally, poor health and hunger during childhood, as well as illiteracy or lack of education, were associated with depression in both men and women.

Discussion. Cumulative life course exposure to social and material disadvantage and current material, social, and health conditions explain the higher frequency of depression in women.