Adherence to Mediterranean diet is inversely associated with depressive symptoms in older women: findings from the NutBrain Study

Data on the association of the Mediterranean diet (MD) with depressive symptoms in older people at high risk of depression are scarce. This study aimed to investigate the cross-sectional association of the adherence to the MD and its components with depressive symptoms in an Italian cohort of older men and women. A total of 325 men and 473 women aged 65-97 years (2019-2023) answered a 102-item semi-quantitative FFQ, which was used to calculate the Mediterranean diet score (MDS). Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale; subjects with a score of 16 or more were considered to have depression. Multivariable logistic regression was used for statistical analysis. The occurrence of depressive symptoms was 19.8 % (8.0 % men, 27.9 % women). High adherence to MDS (highest tertile) significantly reduced the odds of having depressive symptoms by 54.6 % (OR 0.454, 95 % CI 0.266, 0.776). In sex-stratified analysis, the reduction was evident in women (OR 0.385, 95 % CI 0.206, 0.719) but not in men (OR 0.828, 95 % CI 0.254, 2.705). Looking at the association of MDS components with depressive symptoms, we found an inverse significant association with fish consumption and the MUFA:SFA ratio above the median only in women (OR 0.444, 95 % CI 0.283, 0.697 and OR 0.579, 95 % CI 0.345, 0.971, respectively). High adherence to the MDS, and a high fish intake and MUFA:SFA ratio were associated with lower depressive symptoms in women only. Future longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these findings and to explore the underlying biological mechanisms.