The relationship between housing, neighborhood and community infrastructure and older adult depression in Colombia

Abstract

Colombia is undergoing rapid population aging, yet its infrastructure to support healthy aging is limited. This study examines the associations between environmental conditions—home, neighborhood, and community infrastructure—and depression among older adults, separately for urban and rural settings. Using data from the 2015 SABE-Colombia survey, a nationally representative study of adults aged 60 and older, we analyzed the association between depressive symptoms (GDS-15) and home disorder, housing materials, neighborhood disorder, neighborhood amenities, and community infrastructure. We found that for older adults living in urban areas with poorer housing materials had higher depression scores, while those living in neighborhoods with more amenities and community infrastructure had significantly lower higher depression scores. In rural areas, greater access to neighborhood amenities was associated to lower depression. Home and neighborhood disorder were not significantly associated with depression in either setting. Our findings highlight the importance of examining environmental conditions both independently and jointly, and of accounting for rural–urban differences when studying environmental determinants of mental health. The results highlight how contextual variation in infrastructure and housing quality can shape depression in later life in Colombia and may have broader relevance for other Latin American countries.