Psychological distress in elderly people is associated with diet, wellbeing, health status, social support and physical functioning- a HUNT3 study

Abstract

BackgroundThe increasing proportion of people growing old, demands expanded knowledge of how people can experience successful aging. Having a good life while growing old is dependent on several factors such as nutrition, physical health, the ability to perform activities of daily living, lifestyle and psychological health. Furthermore, unhealthy food intake is found to be a modifiable risk factor for depression in elderly people. To promote elderly’s health and wellbeing, the influence of nutrition, lifestyle, physical functioning, and social support on psychological distress needs exploring. Therefore, the purpose of this present study is to investigate the associations between psychological distress and diet patterns when adjusting for other life style behaviors, wellbeing, health status, physical functioning and social support in elderly people.MethodsThe present study is cross sectional, using data from wave three of the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (2006–2008). Data include psychological distress measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), sociodemographic information, measurements of lifestyle behaviours (including diet patterns), wellbeing, health status, social support and physical functioning.ResultsThe sample consisted of 11,621 participants, 65 years or older. Cluster analysis categorized the participants in two food clusters based on similarities in food consumption (healthy N = 9128, unhealthy N = 2493). Stepwise multivariable linear regression analyses revealed that lesser psychological distress in the elderly was dependent on gender, diet, smoking, better scores on health and wellbeing, social support and less problems performing instrumental activities of daily living.ConclusionKnowledge about the influence of diet patterns in relation to psychological distress provide valuable insights into how society can promote healthy lifestyles to an ageing population, e.g. by increasing older people’s food knowledge.

The Impact of Nutrition and Intestinal Microbiome on Elderly Depression—A Systematic Review

“…The findings also point out gender differences in food preferences [37,49]. Older females seem to have a healthier diet pattern than older males, and therefore, they are less psychologically distressed.…”

“…The authors altogether identified six original articles on the research topic. Only two studies [35,36] were randomized controlled trials (RCT) and four studies [37][38][39][40] were cross-sectional studies. Three of these studies originated in Asia (Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea) [36,[39][40], one in Australia [35], and two in Europe (Croatia, Norway) [37,38].…”

“…Only two studies [35,36] were randomized controlled trials (RCT) and four studies [37][38][39][40] were cross-sectional studies. Three of these studies originated in Asia (Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea) [36,[39][40], one in Australia [35], and two in Europe (Croatia, Norway) [37,38]. Two studies [38,39] examined the relationship between the vitamin intake and depressive symptoms among elderly people; one study [35] examined the association between ω-3 fatty acid supplements and their effect on elderly at risk for depression; one study [37] concentrated on the connections between psychological distress and diet patterns; one study [36] explored fasting and calorie restriction dietary regime and its impact on mood in aging people; and one study [39] examined the predicting factors of depression, including nutrition, in elderly people.…”

“…The findings are outlined in alphabetical order of their first author. Grønning et al [37] Cross-sectional study (Norway)…”

Association Between Depressive Symptoms and Quality of Life in Elderly Adults in Primary Health Care: A Comparative Analysis Between Brazil and Portugal

“…In another study, American elderly people, for example, even at a very old age, presented good mental health, autonomy and resilience, although they had signi cant physical limitations and de cits in social interaction (32) , two of the aspects that favoured the Portuguese in our research. Other authors also praise how much the preservation of the physical and social aspects prevents mental suffering (33) . However, the social role functioning domain did not show signi cant performance among the levels of depression in Brazilians.…”