Table 3 Multivariate association between depression and socio-demographic, health-related and household characteristics of ST and Non-ST older adults in India 2017–18

Socio-demographic characteristics

 Age group

  Oldest-old

(Ref)

(Ref)

  Old-old

0.74

(0.44—1.23)

1.16*

(0.98—1.39)

  Young-old

0.85

(0.51—1.42)

1.51***

(1.27—1.80)

 Gender

  Male

(Ref)

(Ref)

  Female

0.76

(0.51—1.13)

1.10

(0.97—1.25)

 Current marital status

  Currently married

(Ref)

(Ref)

  Currently not married

1.97***

(1.36—2.87)

1.26***

(1.13—1.41)

 Status of work

  Never worked

(Ref)

(Ref)

  Currently not working

1.25

(0.77—2.03)

1.24***

(1.09—1.42)

  Currently working

0.98

(0.55—1.75)

1.29***

(1.10—1.52)

  Retired

0.92

(0.39—2.16)

1.24*

(0.99—1.57)

 Level of education

  No formal education

(Ref)

(Ref)

  Upto primary

0.90

(0.57—1.42)

1.10

(0.97—1.26)

  Secondary and above

1.17

(0.59—2.33)

1.06

(0.91—1.24)

 Social participation

  Socially active

(Ref)

(Ref)

  Socially inactive

1.00

(0.59—1.72)

1.45***

(1.24—1.70)

 Importance of religion

  Not important

(Ref)

(Ref)

  Very important

1.34

(0.89—2.03)

1.34***

(1.17—1.53)

 Living arrangement satisfaction

  Satisfied

(Ref)

(Ref)

  Neutral

1.50**

(1.00—2.24)

1.55***

(1.37—1.75)

  Not satisfied

3.09***

(1.78—5.35)

2.55***

(2.17—3.01)

 Received ill-treatment

  No

(Ref)

(Ref)

  Yes

1.28

(0.62—2.66)

2.02***

(1.70—2.40)

 Faced discrimination in life

  No

(Ref)

(Ref)

  Yes

1.58**

(1.05—2.39)

1.68***

(1.49—1.90)

Health-related characteristics

 Self-rated health

  Good

(Ref)

(Ref)

  Average

1.64

(0.83—3.23)

1.44***

(1.19—1.76)

  Poor

3.82***

(1.85—7.89)

2.83***

(2.29—3.48)

 Chronic morbidity status

  No condition

(Ref)

(Ref)

  Single condition

1.80***

(1.23—2.64)

1.15**

(1.02—1.30)

  Multiple conditions

1.67**

(1.03—2.71)

1.44***

(1.27—1.63)

 Physical activity status

  Physically inactive

(Ref)

(Ref)

  Physically active

1.86***

(1.24—2.79)

1.20***

(1.06—1.35)

 Difficulty in ADL

  No difficulty

(Ref)

(Ref)

  Faces difficulty

2.67***

(1.80—3.97)

1.51***

(1.34—1.69)

 Difficulty in IADL

  No difficulty

(Ref)

(Ref)

  Faces difficulty

1.30

(0.88—1.93)

1.54***

(1.38—1.73)

 Covered by health insurance

  Yes

(Ref)

(Ref)

  No

0.67**

(0.47—0.95)

1.26***

(1.10—1.44)

Household characteristics

 Household MPCE Quintile

  Poorest

(Ref)

(Ref)

  Poorer

0.69

(0.41—1.13)

0.99

(0.85—1.16)

  Middle

0.94

(0.56—1.56)

0.87*

(0.74—1.01)

  Richer

1.09

(0.65—1.83)

1.08

(0.92—1.26)

  Richest

2.09***

(1.26—3.47)

1.18**

(1.01—1.38)

 Religion of household

  Hinduism

(Ref)

(Ref)

  Islam

0.93

(0.46—1.89)

1.02

(0.88—1.19)

  Others

0.60*

(0.36—1.02)

1.02

(0.85—1.22)

 Place of residence

  Urban

(Ref)

(Ref)

  Rural

0.90

(0.56—1.45)

1.31***

(1.16—1.47)

 Country region

  Southern

(Ref)

(Ref)

  Northern

2.81***

(1.38—5.69)

1.97***

(1.70—2.28)

  Central

2.91***

(1.33—6.36)

2.94***

(2.41—3.58)

  Western

1.72

(0.84—3.52)

1.81***

(1.52—2.16)

  Eastern

2.65**

(1.25—5.61)

1.56***

(1.33—1.83)

  North-eastern

1.41

(0.65—3.05)

1.07

(0.81—1.41)

Analytical sample size

5025

25,612