Associations Among Quality of Diet, Anxiety and Depression, and Absenteeism in Adults: A Population Base Study in Sao Paulo Municipality, Brazil

Abstract Objectives To assess associations among healthy behaviors, anxiety and depression, and absenteeism in adults living in Sao Paulo municipality (Brazil) in 2015, according to sociodemographic characteristics. Methods Observational study based on cross-sectional individual-level data representative at population level in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Information on 637 adult individuals interviewed in Health Survey of Sao Paulo (ISA-Capital) conducted in 2015 were assessed to identify association among quality of diet, anxiety and depression, and absenteeism. Quality of diet was based on Revised Brazilian Healthy Eating Index of 24-hour recall (moderate to high quality of diet BHEI-R ≥60). Anxiety and depression were identified using International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Absenteeism was self-reported by individuals referring to proportion of days of absence of usual activities within last two weeks previous to interview. Probabilistic regressions were estimated to identify associations among target variables in relation to absenteeism (dependent variable), and controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. Statistical analyses were performed using Stata software version 11. Results Individuals interviewed were predominantly men (51.7%), aged approximately 38 years-old with average household income per capita of US$414. Approximately 44.2% men and 42.1% women were eutrophic (18.5 ≤ BMI < 25), and 0.6% of men and women had diagnosis of anxiety and depression. In terms of quality of diet, 49.8% of men and 44.6% of women has moderate to high quality. Approximately 4.7% men and 9.6% women had at least one day of absence at work due to health problems in the two weeks previous to the interview. In probabilistic regression, eutrophic individuals (b = −0.71; P = 0.000) and individuals with moderate to high diet quality (b = −0.60; P = 0.000) had lower probability of absenteeism, whilst individuals with diagnosis of anxiety and depression (b = 1.35; P = 0.000) had higher probability of absenteeism, controlling for sex, age and marital status. Conclusions Anxiety and depression showed significant positive association with proportion of productive days lost in Brazilian adults, whilst eutrophic body weight and healthier diet had negative relation with absenteeism. Funding Sources CAPES; FAPESP; Sao Paulo Municipal Health Department; CNPq.