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

• Home, neighborhood and community infrastructure is associated with older adults’ depression in different ways across urban and rural contexts in Colombia. • In urban areas, poor housing materials were associated with higher depression, while access to neighborhood amenities and community infrastructure was associated with lower depression for Colombian older adults. • Access to neighborhood amenities was associated with lower depression among rural older adults. • Findings highlight the need for context-specific interventions that address environmental disparities in low- and middle-income countries. 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 depressive symptoms (GDS-15) in relation to home disorder, housing materials, neighborhood disorder, neighborhood amenities, and community infrastructure. Among urban older adults, poorer housing materials and fewer neighborhood amenities were significantly associated with higher depression scores. In rural areas, greater access to neighborhood amenities was associated to lower depression. Home and neighborhood disorder was not significantly associated with depression in either setting. These findings highlight the importance of examining environmental domains 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.