Yary T, Aazami S. The association between polyunsaturated fatty acids and depression among Iranian postgraduate students in Malaysia.
Lipids Health Dis 2011;
10:151. [PMID:
21864357 PMCID:
PMC3173362 DOI:
10.1186/1476-511x-10-151]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2011] [Accepted: 08/24/2011] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Background
The incidence of depression is expected to increase over the next 20 years, and many people will have to deal with it. It has been reported that up to 40% of university students experience levels of depression. Several negative consequences are associated with depression symptoms, such as memory impairment, suicide, and substance abuse. Recently, researchers have been studying possible associations between depression and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which may modify depression symptoms. The aim of the present study was to find an association between PUFA levels and depression among Iranian postgraduate students in Malaysia.
Methods
This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2011 with 402 Iranian postgraduate students who were studying in Malaysia. The participants included 173 (43%) women and 229 (57%) men, and the mean age of the participants was 32.54 ± 6.22 years.
Results
After adjustment for several potential confounders including sex, age, BMI, PUFAs, MUFAs, and SFAs, monthly expenses, close friends, living in campus, smoking, education, and marital status in a logistic regression model, an inverse relationship was found between depression symptoms and the dietary intake of PUFAs.
Conclusion
We found an inverse association between PUFA intake and depression symptoms in Iranian postgraduate students in Malaysia. We, therefore, concluded that long-term intake of PUFAs may modify or prevent depression symptoms.
Collapse