Objective: The aim of this research was to study the prevalence and differences of depressive symptoms and related factors in elderly in both urban and rural areas so as to develop relative strategies on this issue. Methods: Ten-question-version of the Center Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) was applied to score the depressive status. Data used in this research was from the 2013 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Binary logistic regressions method was applied to examine the influential factors related to depression symptoms. Results: In the elderly population, the mean score on depressive symptoms was 8.3±5.9, with a prevalence as 26.8%. The incidence rates on 'Elderly depression' in urban and rural areas were 16.4% and 30.0% respectively. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was relatively low (P<0.05) with protective factors including: being male, status related to self-rated health, without chronic diseases, active participation in social activities etc. noticed, among elderly in both urban and rural areas. Age and alcohol consumption appeared factors that influencing the depressive symptoms of the elderly in rural areas, while the average income was an influencing factor on the elderly in urban areas. Incidence of depression was relatively low in age ≥75 years group in rural areas. However, elderly in the rural areas with abstinence of alcohol intake showed higher incidence of depressive symptoms (P<0.05). Incidence of depression was reltively low (P<0.05) among elderly with high income in the urban areas. Conclusions: Incidence of depression appeared high among the elderly and even higher in the rural areas. Strategies would include the following points: to strengthen the construction of urban-rural integration, improving and strengthening the rural pension insurance system, upgrading the urban social assistance for low-income elderly, strengthening the psychological consultation service of primary medical institutions and actively developing the three-tier levels related to the prevention of chronic diseases.

R Chen

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