Prevalence and Associated Factors of Depressive Symptoms Among Persons Aged 45 Years and Older in Indonesia in 2023: Overall and Sex-Specific Analyses.
Pengpid S & Peltzer K • Psychogeriatrics : the official journal of the Japanese Psychogeriatric Society • 2026
Depressive symptoms affected about one in ten persons 45 years and older in Indonesia in 2023 and were associated with poorer physical health, including hospitalisation, disability, multisite pain, poor self-rated health, and overweight.
Key Findings
Results
The overall prevalence of depressive symptoms among adults aged 45 years and older in Indonesia in 2023 was 9.3%.
Data were drawn from 3808 adults aged 45 years and older who participated in the 2023 Indonesia Longitudinal Ageing Survey (ILAS), a national cross-sectional survey.
Depressive symptoms were assessed using the 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10), with a total score of ≥10 indicating depressive symptoms.
Prevalence was 9.0% in men and 9.6% in women, indicating minimal sex difference in overall rates.
Results
Hospitalisation in the past 12 months was positively associated with depressive symptoms in the overall adjusted model.
This association was identified through multivariable logistic regression in the final adjusted models.
The finding applied to the overall sample of adults aged 45 years and older.
Hospitalisation was one of several physical health indicators independently associated with depressive symptoms.
Results
Poor self-rated health status was positively associated with depressive symptoms in the overall adjusted model.
This association was found in multivariable logistic regression analyses controlling for other factors.
Self-rated health was assessed as part of the 2023 ILAS national cross-sectional survey.
Poor self-rated health was identified as a significant factor both overall and consistent with sex-stratified findings.
Results
Multisite pain was positively associated with depressive symptoms in the overall adjusted model.
Multisite pain was one of the physical health factors identified in the final multivariable logistic regression models.
This association held in the overall sample of 3808 adults aged 45 years and older.
Multisite pain was among the cluster of physical health conditions linked to depressive symptoms.
Results
Overweight was positively associated with depressive symptoms in the overall adjusted model.
Overweight status was identified as a risk factor for depressive symptoms in the final adjusted multivariable logistic regression.
This finding applied to the overall sample and represents a physical health correlate of late-life depression.
The association was present overall and was included in sex-stratified analyses.
Results
Having a disability was positively associated with depressive symptoms in the overall adjusted model.
Disability was one of five physical health-related factors positively associated with depressive symptoms in the final adjusted overall model.
This was identified using multivariable logistic regression among the 2023 ILAS participants aged 45 and older.
Disability, alongside hospitalisation, multisite pain, poor self-rated health, and overweight, formed a cluster of physical health risk factors.
Results
Religious activity was negatively associated with depressive symptoms in unadjusted analysis but not retained as significant in the final adjusted model.
Religious activity was negatively associated with depressive symptoms only in unadjusted analysis.
This protective association did not persist after adjustment for other covariates in the multivariable logistic regression.
The finding suggests that the relationship between religious activity and depressive symptoms may be confounded by other factors.
Results
Among men specifically, current smoking was associated with increased odds of depressive symptoms.
This sex-specific finding emerged from stratified multivariable logistic regression analyses.
Current smoking was an additional risk factor for depressive symptoms in men but was not identified as significant in the overall or women-specific models.
This finding highlights a sex-specific behavioral risk factor for late-life depression in Indonesian men.
What This Means
This research suggests that roughly 1 in 10 Indonesians aged 45 and older experienced depressive symptoms in 2023, with similar rates in men (9.0%) and women (9.6%). The study used data from nearly 3,800 participants in a nationally representative survey and measured depression using a validated 10-item questionnaire. The findings indicate that depression in this age group is closely tied to physical health: people who had been hospitalized recently, reported poor general health, experienced pain in multiple parts of their body, were overweight, or had a disability were all more likely to show depressive symptoms. Additionally, among men, current smoking was linked to a higher likelihood of depression, suggesting a sex-specific behavioral risk factor.
This research matters because Indonesia is experiencing rapid population aging, and mental health conditions like depression in older adults are often overlooked or undertreated. By identifying which physical health problems and behaviors are most strongly linked to depression, the findings can help direct screening and support efforts toward the most vulnerable groups. The study also found that religious activity appeared protective in initial analyses, though this association did not hold up after accounting for other factors, suggesting the relationship is complex.
The study has practical implications for public health policy in Indonesia and similar settings. Healthcare providers working with middle-aged and older adults should be aware that conditions like chronic pain, disability, and poor self-rated health frequently co-occur with depression, and that addressing these physical conditions may also benefit mental health. For men in particular, smoking cessation programs could potentially have mental health benefits alongside their well-known physical health benefits.
Pengpid S, Peltzer K. (2026). Prevalence and Associated Factors of Depressive Symptoms Among Persons Aged 45 Years and Older in Indonesia in 2023: Overall and Sex-Specific Analyses.. Psychogeriatrics : the official journal of the Japanese Psychogeriatric Society. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyg.70215