Association between Dietary Patterns and Major Depression in Adult Females: A Case-Control Study

Depression is one of the most common mental disorders. This study aimed to
determine the association between dietary patterns and major depression in adult females.
Study design: A case-control study.
Methods: This study was conducted on adult females suffering from major depression within the
age range from 19 to 65 years. The total participants of this study included 170 cases and 340
controls. Dietary intakes were collected using a 168-item validated semi-quantitative foodfrequency
questionnaire. Household food security was measured using a locally adapted
Household Food Insecurity Access Scale. Moreover, the depression status of the adult females
was assessed through a validated “Beck” questionnaire. Logistic regression was utilized to assess
the association between dietary pattern scores and depression.
Results: The mean ±SD ages of the participants were 36.97 ±11.28 and 36.07 ±10.58 years in the
case and control groups, respectively (P=0.374), and five major dietary patterns were extracted in
this study. The odds ratio (OR) in the last adjusted model was (OR: 0.61; 95% CI: 0.46, 0.81);
therefore, the “Healthy pattern” was significantly inversely associated with the odds of depression.
Adherence to the “Western pattern” significantly increased depression by 29% (OR: 1.29; 95% CI:
1.06, 1.59). Furthermore, the “Traditional pattern” was positively associated with depression (OR:
1.16; 95% CI: 0.94, 1.43). There was no significant association between “Sugar and fast food” and
“red meat and oils” dietary pattern and depression.
Conclusions: Healthy dietary pattern reduces the risk of depression in adult females; however,
the western and traditional dietary patterns increases this risk.