Association of Constipation and Geriatric Depressive Symptoms: Cross-Sectional Analysis Using Baseline Data from the JUSTICE-TOKYO Prospective Cohort Study

<b>Objective:</b> To clarify the relationship between constipation and depressive symptoms among the elderly. <b>Methods:</b> This single-center, cross-sectional study was performed using baseline data obtained at the time of enrollment in the prospective cohort of the JUSTICE-TOKYO study. Participants underwent assessments including patient profiling, drug use history, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Geriatric Depression Scale 15 (GDS-15), gastrointestinal-related quality of life (QOL), and the constipation scoring system (CSS). Geriatric depressive symptoms were evaluated based on GDS-15. We investigated correlations between GDS-15 scores and various abdominal symptoms and assessed risk factors for geriatric depressive symptoms using multiple regression analysis. <b>Results:</b> A total of 984 elderly participants (57% female, mean age 78.1 ± 6.1 year) were included. The GDS-15 scores were significantly correlated with body mass index (BMI) (r = -0.056) and MMSE (r = -0.092), reflex-related QOL (r = 0.253), pain-related QOL (r = 0.229), fullness-related QOL (r = 0.269), constipation-related QOL (r = 0.329), diarrhea-related QOL (r = 0.264), and CSS (r = 0.285) scores. Multiple regression analysis indicated that BMI (β = -0.069, <i>p</i> = 0.020) and MMSE (β = -0.074, <i>p</i> = 0.013), constipation-related QOL (β = 0.136, <i>p</i> = 0.002), reflex-related QOL (β = 0.126, <i>p</i> < 0.001), diarrhea-related QOL (β = 0.095, <i>p</i> = 0.006), and CSS (β = 0.098, <i>p</i> = 0.016) scores were significantly correlated with GDS-15 scores. <b>Conclusions:</b> Depressive symptoms among older individuals are associated with various abdominal symptoms, particularly constipation. However, the causality between depressive symptoms and constipation cannot be inferred due to the study's cross-sectional design.