Identifying the Network Structure Among Comorbid Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Community-Dwelling Adults With and Without Hearing Difficulty: A Bayesian Network Analysis

BACKGROUND: The high prevalence of hearing difficulty among older adults has been associated with an increased risk of mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety symptoms. This study aimed to investigate the inter-relationships between depression and anxiety symptoms among older adults with and without hearing difficulty. METHODS: Network analysis was used to reveal the central symptoms exerting the most influence on other symptoms and bridge symptoms connecting two distinct symptoms between depression and anxiety symptoms, and the Bayesian network was used to identify activating symptoms affecting specific downstream symptoms. RESULTS: A total of 4096 participants with hearing difficulty and 8150 without hearing difficulty were included. Network analysis revealed the primary central symptoms including "uncontrollable worry [GAD2]," "trouble relaxing [GAD4]," "nervousness or anxiety [GAD1]," and "felt sadness [CESD3]" for the hearing difficulty group and GAD2, GAD4, CESD3, and GAD1 for the no hearing difficulty group. The Bayesian network confirmed that GAD4 and CESD3 were activating symptoms in the hearing difficulty group, while GAD2 served as an activating symptom in the no hearing difficulty group. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggested that targeting the activating symptoms of "trouble relaxing" and "felt sadness" could help alleviate the comorbidity between depression and anxiety symptoms. Addressing the specific-bridge symptom of "felt fearful" linking depression and anxiety symptoms might also have a cascading effect on improving both mental health conditions among older adults with hearing difficulty.