Age, period and cohort effects in depression prevalence among Canadians 65+, 1994 to 2018: A multi-level analysis

Background: The nature of the Canadian population 65+ has changed considerably over the past several decades. They comprise a larger proportion of the population, are better educated, and are wealthier than previous generations. We estimate the contributions of chronological aging, temporal periods, and birth cohort effects on the trends in the major depressive episode (MDE) prevalence among Canadian seniors from 1994/1995 to 2017/2018. Methods: Using data from two sets of national health surveys, the National Population Health Survey (NPHS) and the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). Pooled data on 150,246 survey respondents aged 65+ from 16 repeated cross-sectional surveys are included. Hierarchical regression age-period-cohort models were used to visualize the linear and non-linear effects of age, period, and cohort trends in late-life depression. Results: We found that: the prevalence of MDE in later life fluctuated non-significantly during the study time period; the probability of developing MDE declined with increasing age from 65 to 80+ (β = −.32, p = .027). The significant quadratic birth cohort predictor showed a non-linear increasing association with the prevalence of MDE from the earlier to later-born cohorts (β = .01, p = .049). We also found that females 65+ were consistently more likely to be depressed than males 65+ (β = .47, p = .007). The significantly negative “age × female” interaction shows that age exerts a greater effect on females’ probability of developing MDE than males (β = −.09, p = .011). There were no consistent significant period effects but there were peaks in prevalence around 2001, 2008, and 2012 which corresponded to some recent historical events. Our moderation analysis documents that lower levels of education significantly contributed to the higher rates of depression among cohorts born earlier in the 20th century. Conclusions: Our findings show the presence of strong chronological age and cohort effects and weaker period effects on the prevalence of late-life depression in Canadian seniors.