: Authors  KATHERINE M.

APPLETON, 

 TIM J. PETERS, 

 ROBERT C. HAYWARD, 

 SUSAN V. HEATHERLEY, 

 SARAH A. MCNAUGHTON, 

 PETER J. ROGERS, 

 DAVID GUNNELL, 

 ANDREW R. NESS & 

 DAVID KESSLER 

: Publication date DEC 11, 2006

: Hypothesis THIS STUDY INVESTIGATED THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE DIETARY

INTAKE OF N-3 EFAS AND DEPRESSED MOOD

: Sample size IN A LARGE VOLUNTARY SAMPLE OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC OF THE

.UK

: Study design
DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS WERE CALCULATED FOR AGE, SEX, N-3 EFA
INTAKE FROM FISH, N-3 EFA INTAKE FROM ALL SOURCES AND DASS
DEPRESSED MOOD SCORE, PAIR WISE PEARSON CORRELATION
COEFFICIENTS WERE CALCU- LATED FOR ALL VARIABLES, AND LINEAR
REGRESSION ANALYSES WERE CON- DUCTED. TO ALLOW FOR
POSSIBLE NON-LINEARITY, REGRESSION MODELS CONSIDERED
QUADRATIC AS WELL AS LINEAR TERMS FOR N-3 EFA INTAKE. ALL
ANALYSES WERE CONDUCTED FIRSTLY WITH ONLY N-3 EFA INTAKE
PREDICTOR VARIABLES (UNADJUSTED MODELS), AND SECONDLY
WITH N-3 EFA INTAKE AND DEMOGRAPHIC PREDICTOR VARIABLES
(ADJUSTED MODELS). IN ADDI- TION, TO PROVIDE A DIRECT
COMPARISON WITH ANALYSES REPORTED IN OTHER STUDIES
ALTERNATIVE MODELS WERE USED WHICH INCLUDED N- 3 EFA
INTAKĘ EXPRESSED AS BINARY VARIABLES. ANALYSES WERE PER-
. FORMED IN STATA VERSION 8
: Tools\tests AGE, SEX, N-3 EFA INTAKE FROM FISH, N-3 EFA INTAKE FROM ALL
SOURCES AND DEPRESSED MOOD

: Inclusion criteria
PATIENTS AND NON- PATIENTS IN GP WAITING ROOMS
 WERE INVOLVED IN THE STUDY, AND INTAKES OF N-3 EFAS
AND LEVELS OF DEPRESSED MOOD ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE
FOUND IN PREVIOUS REPORTS OF THE GENERAL
POPULATION [9, 11, 16]. A FOOD FRE- QUENCY
QUESTIONNAIRE (FFQ) WAS CONSIDERED TO BE THE MOST
APPROPRIATE MEASURE FOR USE, HERE, DUE TO THE
INVESTIGATION OF DIETARY INTAKE IN A LARGE SAMPLE.
DIETARY SOURCES OF N-3 EFA ARE ALSO CONSUMED
INFRE- QUENTLY, SO ARE LIKELY TO BE REPORTED
REASONABLY ACCURATELY ON A FFQ AND ARE ALSO
LIKELY TO CONTRIBUTE MINIMALLY TO OVERALL ENERGY
INTAKE, SO THAT ALTHOUGH OVERALL ENERGY INTAKE IS
NOT MEASURED, VARIATION IN N-3 EFA INTAKE IS
UNLIKELY TO BE A RESULT OF VARIATION IN OVERALL
ENERGY INTAKE. DIFFERENT RESULTS, HOWEVER, MIGHT
HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED IF BLOOD LEVELS OF N-3 EFAS HAD
BEEN MEASURED, DUE TO INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN
FATTY ACID METABOLISM AND STORAGE
: Results THESE RESULTS DEMONSTRATE AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN
DEPRESSED MOOD AND N-3 EFA INTAKE FROM FISH. THIS
ASSOCIATION, HOWEVER, IS NOT LINEAR, AND IS
ATTENUATED AFTER ADJUSTMENT FOR AGE AND INDEX OF
MULTIPLE DEPRIVATION (IMD). THERE WAS NO ASSOCIATION
BETWEEN DEPRESSED MOOD AND N-3 EFA INTAKE FROM ALL
.SOURCES
: Strength and Limitations THIS STUDY FOUND A NON-LINEAR ASSOCIA- TION BETWEEN
DEPRESSED MOOD SCORE AND N-3 EFA IN- TAKE THROUGH
FISH, BUT THIS RELATIONSHIP IS ATTENUATED AFTER
ADJUSTMENT FOR AGE AND SOCIAL DEPRIVATION, AND NO
ASSOCIATION IS OBSERVED WITH N-3 EFA INTAKE WHEN
SUPPLEMENTS ARE INCLUDED. ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN DE-
PRESSED MOOD AND N-3 EFA INTAKE THOUGH FISH MAY
THUS SIMPLY DEMONSTRATE A WIDER ASSOCIATION
BETWEEN DEPRESSED MOOD AND DIET OR DEPRESSED MOOD
.AND LIFESTYLE