The relationship between sunlight exposure duration and depressive symptoms: A cross-sectional study on elderly Chinese women

Sunlight has been reported to have various beneficial effects on human health. Although research indicates an association between sunlight exposure and depressive symptoms, no study has examined it among the older adult population, especially among elderly Chinese women. This cross-sectional study addresses the aforesaid gap by investigating this association in 1,429 Chinese women aged 60 years and older. Information on their sunlight exposure was collected through a self-reported questionnaire. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS). The logistic regression models revealed that greater exposure to sunlight is associated with a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms. In the final adjusted model, when the short sunlight exposure category (reference) was compared with the medium and long ones, the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the prevalence of depressive symptoms (SDS cutoff ≥ 45) were 0.84 (0.60, 1.19) and 0.62 (0.43, 0.91), respectively (p-value for trend = 0.01). This significant association did not change when the SDS cutoff points were altered to ≥ 40 and ≥ 50. Findings indicate that an increased sunlight exposure duration is associated with a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms in elderly women.