Egg consumption reduces the risk of depressive symptoms in the elderly: findings from a 6-year cohort study

BMC Psychiatry

Research

Kun Chen¹  Fudong Li²  Xiaoli Li³  Le Xu⁴  Xue Gu⁴  Junfen Lin⁴  Tao Zhang⁴ 

[1] Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 866 Yuhangtang Road, Xihu District, 310058, Hangzhou, China;Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 866 Yuhangtang Road, Xihu District, 310058, Hangzhou, China;Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhejiang, Hangzhou, China;The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang, Hangzhou, China;Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhejiang, Hangzhou, China;

关键词: Depressive symptoms;    Egg consumption;    Cohort study;    Elderly;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12888-023-04540-2

 received in 2022-09-23, accepted in 2023-01-10,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAccumulating evidence showed that dietary habits might modify the risk of depression. This study aimed to evaluate the longitudinal association of egg consumption with depressive symptoms in the Chinese elderly.MethodsWe analyzed the data from Zhejiang Ageing and Health Cohort Study including 8289 participants. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 scale (PHQ-9) was used to assess depressive symptoms at baseline and three waves of follow-up (2015, 2016, and 2019–2020). A PHQ-9 cut-off score ≥ 5 was used to define depressive symptoms. The participants with depressive symptoms at baseline were excluded. Egg consumption was evaluated through the diet habits section of the baseline questionnaire. Self-reported egg consumption was measured as the number of eggs per week and categorized into three categories. Log-binomial regression models with Generalized Estimating Equations were utilized to evaluate the association of egg consumption with depressive symptoms and estimate relative risks (RRs).ResultsThe mean age of included participants was 68.6 years. After 6 years of follow-up, 1385 (16.7%) participants were indicated with depressive symptoms by PHQ-9 at least once. Compared with non-consumers or less-than-weekly consumers, participants consuming < 3 eggs/week and ≥ 3 eggs/week had 30% (RR = 0.70, 95%CI 0.62–0.80) and 38% (RR = 0.62, 95%CI 0.54–0.71) lower risks of depressive symptoms, respectively. A linear association was confirmed (P for trend < 0.01), and each egg increment per week was associated with a 4% lower risk of depressive symptoms (RR = 0.96, 95%CI 0.93–0.99). Sensitivity analyses yielded consistent results to the main analyses.ConclusionsEgg consumption is prospectively related to a lower risk of depressive symptoms in the Chinese elderly. More prospective studies are needed to verify the association.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

【 图 表 】

Fig. 1