Handgrip strength and depression among 34,129 adults aged 50 years and older in six low- and middle-income countries

Depression is an important public health problem, particularly among older adults in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs) (Guerra  et al., 2016a) where a demographic transition, with an increasing number of older people, is rapidly occurring (Christensen et al., 2009). Not only does depression carry an immense mental health burden, but those with depressive disorders are also at a higher risk for various physical health co -morbidities such as hearing problems, arthritis and angina, among others (Stubbs et al., 2017a; Stubbs et al., 2017b; Vancampfort et al., 2016; Vancampfort et al., 2014; Vancampfort et al., 2015) and associated premature mortality (Corrrell et al., 2017; Walker et al., 2015).

Source: Journal of Affective Disorders - September 17, 2018 Category: Neurology Authors: Garcia Ashdown-Franks, Brendon Stubbs, Ai Koyanagi, Felipe Schuch, Joseph Firth, Nicola Veronese, Davy Vancampfort Source Type: research