Depressive Symptoms and Healthy Behavior Frequency in Polish Postmenopausal Women from Urban and Rural Areas

Mariusz Gujski, Dorota Raczkiewicz, Ewa Humeniuk, Beata Sarecka-Hujar, Artur Wdowiak and Iwona Bojar
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Mariusz Gujski: Department of Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland
Dorota Raczkiewicz: Institute of Statistics and Demography, Collegium of Economic Analysis, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, 02-513 Warsaw, Poland
Ewa Humeniuk: Department of Pathology and Rehabilitation of Speech, Medical University of Lublin, 20-059 Lublin, Poland
Beata Sarecka-Hujar: Department of Basic Biomedical Science, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Sosnowiec, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland
Artur Wdowiak: Diagnostic Techniques Unit, Medical University of Lublin, 20-059 Lublin, Poland
Iwona Bojar: Department of Women’s Health, Institute of Rural Health, 20-090 Lublin, Poland

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 6, 1-10

Abstract: The objective of this study was to determine whether the severity of depressive symptoms was linked to healthy behaviors in Polish postmenopausal women and whether the strength of the link differed between women living in urban versus rural settings. The study was conducted in 2018 in the Lublin region of Poland and included 396 postmenopausal women (239 living in rural areas and 157 in urban areas). The severity of depressive symptoms was evaluated by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the frequency of healthy behaviors was assessed using the Inventory of Healthy Behaviors. Postmenopausal women living in rural areas underwent menopause significantly earlier, were more often widowed, more often obese, more often less educated, and less likely to have never married when compared to those living in urban areas. Importantly, rural postmenopausal women endorsed more depressive symptoms ( p = 0.049). There was a negative correlation between the severity of depressive symptoms and age in urban postmenopausal women (r = −0.174, p = 0.029), but this was not evident in rural women (r = −0.034, p = 0.600). The frequency of healthy behaviors was significantly lower in rural postmenopausal women, especially with respect to nutritional habits. A positive correlation was found between the frequency of healthy behaviors and the level of education in both sets of women ( p = 0.034 and p = 0.045, respectively). To summarize, we found a significant link between healthy behaviors and depressive symptoms in postmenopausal women. We also found that this link was more evident in rural than in urban women.

Keywords: depression; postmenopausal women; rural; urban; healthy behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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