Zheng Zhang, YuanyuanWang, Zhaoyang Xie
Exercise interventions may effectively alleviate depressive symptoms in Chinese perimenopausal women and represent a feasible non-pharmacological strategy for mental health management. However, given the substantial heterogeneity and potential publication bias among included studies, the findings should be interpreted cautiously. Further high-quality randomized controlled trials with standardized intervention protocols and long-term follow-up are needed to determine the optimal exercise prescription for this population.
OBJECTIVE: There is a lack of longitudinal evidence on depression among menopausal women. The present study aims to examine the developmental trajectories of depression and their impact on life satisfaction among Chinese menopausal women. METHODS: Using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, trajectories of depressive symptoms among 465 women were analyzed. Latent class growth modeling identified heterogeneous depressive trajectories. Analysis of variance was used to assess differences in life satisfaction across trajectories, and multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the effects of key demographic factors. RESULTS: Five distinct trajectory groups emerged: low-increasing (8.5%), high-decreasing (9.9%), high-increasing (9.1%), moderate (27.8%), and low (44.8%). Life satisfaction declined among all trajectory groups during the menopausal transition, with the smallest decrease observed in the low trajectory group and the largest in the high-increasing trajectory group. Compared with the low trajectory group, women with rural residency, chronic illness, lower education levels, lack of pension coverage, and lower household income were more likely to be classified into other high-risk depressive trajectory groups. CONCLUSION: Findings reveal heterogeneous depressive trajectory groups among menopausal women in China. Socioeconomically disadvantaged rural women face elevated risks of depressive symptom deterioration. These results highlight the need for improved mental health support and equitable resource allocation to address psychological well-being among vulnerable menopausal populations.