N-3 and N-6 Fatty Acid Intakes and Depressive Symptoms in Korean Female Adults Population Using Data from the 2014-2018 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Abstract

Background: This study sought to investigate the association between n-3 and n-6 fatty acid intakes and depressive symptoms in Korean female adults.Methods: Subjects comprised 8,204 Korean female adults, aged over 19 years, who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2014-2018. Subjects were classified according to their Patient Health Questionnaire-9 scores into a low depressive symptoms (LDS) group and a high depressive symptoms (HDS) group. Nutrient intake was evaluated using dietary data obtained through a one-day 24-hour recall.Results: Compared with the LDS group, the HDS group was associated with lower education levels, household incomes, and employment rates. The HDS group had lower intakes of n-3 and n-6 fatty acids than the LDS group. The highest quartile of adjusted total n-3 intakes had a decreased odds ratio of depressive symptoms (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.35-0.90) in those aged 65 years over. The prevalence of depressive symptoms decreased in the highest quartile of adjusted arachidonic acid intake (95% CI, 0.33-0.93) in those aged 41-64 years. The n-6:n-3 ratio was not associated with depressive symptoms.Conclusions: From the results of this study, it was found that the intake of n-3 fatty acids and arachidonic acid were significantly associated with depressive symptoms. These findings can be used to aid the development of dietary guidelines for the improvement of public health.

Awareness and related factors of depressive symptoms in breastfeeding people in South Korea: a survey-based cross-sectional study

“…In this study, women who exercised 2–4 and ≥5 times a week were less and more likely to report depressive symptoms when compared with those who exercised 0–1 times a week, respectively. Previous studies 18 19 have reported that low physical activity is associated with depressive symptoms, the results of this study could accurately confirm this due to the limitations of secondary data. In the future, it will be necessary to investigate the effect of exercise on depressive symptoms through repeated studies considering the type of exercise and exercise time.…”

“…Studies on depressive symptoms using the PHQ-9 18 typically define individuals as having depressive symptoms if they score ≥10 points on this survey. However, this study used previous studies 26 27 on pregnancy and childbirth to define depressive symptoms in individuals who scored ≥5.…”

“…This is meaningful because this enables a comparison of depressive symptoms with other community population groups. Previous studies have used the PHQ-9 to report that 25% of adult women over the age of 19 were depressed 18 and 43% of individuals with polycystic ovary syndrome were depressed. 28 Therefore comparisons of studies that used the PHQ-9 are helpful as basic data when developing a nursing intervention programme for women’s depressive symptoms.…”