Tea consumption and depressive symptoms in older people in rural China

Objectives: To examine the association between tea consumption and depressive symptoms in Chinese older people and to explore the mediating role of cerebrovascular disease in the association.

Design: Population-based cross-sectional study.

Setting: A rural community near Qufu in Shandong, China.

Participants: Community-dwelling individuals aged 60 and older (mean 68.6; 59.3% female) from the Confucius Hometown Aging Project (N = 1,368).

Measurements: Data were collected through interviews, clinical examinations, and psychological testing, following a standard procedure. Presence of high depressive symptoms was defined as a score of 5 or greater on the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale.

Results: Of the 1,368 participants, 165 (12.1%) were weekly and 489 (35.7%) were daily tea consumers. Compared with no or irregular tea consumption, controlling for age, sex, education, leisure activities, number of comorbidities, and Mini-Mental State Examination score, the odds ratios of having high depressive symptoms were 0.86 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.56-1.32) for weekly and 0.59 (95% CI = 0.43-0.81) for daily tea consumption (P for linear trend = .001); the linear trend of the association remained statistically significant when further controlling for history of stroke, transient ischemic attacks, and presence of carotid plaques.

Conclusions: Daily tea consumption is associated with a lower likelihood of depressive symptoms in Chinese older people living in a rural community. The association appears to be independent of cerebrovascular disease and atherosclerosis.