Depressive symptoms may be linked to poor-quality diets in middle-aged and older men, according to findings from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA).
In a longitudinal study of 1,312 Dutch people aged 55 years or older, 52% of whom were women, depressive symptoms were associated with significantly lower diet quality scores on food quality questionnaires among men, Liset E.M. Elstgeest of the Amsterdam Public Health research institute at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and coauthors reported in the Journal of Affective Disorders.
Depressive symptoms were defined as a score of at least 16 on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D). Study participants were assessed in 2014-2015, and for five cycles of three times per year from 2001-2003 to 2015-2016. Diet quality was assessed in 2014 and 2015 using the Mediterranean Diet Score, Alternative Healthy Eating Index, and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) score.
The majority (84.8%) had no depressive symptoms in both cycles, while 5.4% experienced emerging, 4.6% remitted, and 5.1% chronic/recurrent depressive symptoms. For the history sample, the numbers with depressive symptoms were 69 (10.0%), 67(9.8%), 59 (8.6%), and 60 (8.7%) in the four regular cycles from 2001-2003 to 2011-2013. In total 144 participants (21.0%) ever had a CES-D of at least 16 from 2001-2003 to 2011-2013, of which 20 had an elevated CES-D score only in 2011-2013.
Compared with participants with CES-D scores less than 16, the 120 (9.7%) study participants with CES-D scores of at least 16 in 2011-2013 and the 130 (10.5%) study participants with elevated CES-D scores in 2015-2016 were more likely to have lower Mediterranean Diet Score and Alternative Healthy Eating Index scores. After adjustment for confounders, however, the association remained statistically significant only for men. Current depressive symptoms were also associated with a lower Alternative Healthy Eating Index score in men, but not in women.
More longitudinal studies are needed to confirm results, the investigators added. “Such studies should preferably include repeated diet measurements and investigate gender differences,” they concluded.
No conflicts of interest were reported.
SOURCE: Elstgeest L et al. 2019. J Affec Disord. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.02.004.