BackgroundDepression is one of the most debilitating mental disorders and a risk factor
for many other chronic diseases that are commonly seen in the geriatric population.
It has been claimed in previous studies that depression can be associated with obesity
in this age group, but there is no common consensus between their results.AimThis
study aims to evaluate the association between depression metabolic syndrome and obesity
phenotypes in community-dwelling older adults living in the East of Iran.Method and
materialsAs a part of the Birjand Longitudinal Aging Study, this retrospective cross-sectional
study was conducted on participants older than 60. They were categorized based on
their body mass index and components of metabolic syndrome into four phenotypes: metabolic
non-healthy obese (MNHO), metabolic healthy obese (MHO), metabolic healthy non-obese
(MHNO), and metabolic non-healthy non-obese (MNHNO). The relative risk ratio (RRR)
of the obesity phenotypes, the severity of depressive symptoms, and the 95% confidence
intervals (95% CI) were evaluated by univariate and multinomial logistic regression.ResultsOf
1344 eligible participants, 268 (19.94%) had depression. Moderate, moderate-severe,
and severe depression were observed in 179 (13.32%), 67 (4.99%), and 22 (1.64%) participants,
respectively. Our findings showed a non-significant increase in the RRR of mild depressive
symptoms in MNHO (RRR:1.22, 95% CI 0.56-2.66) and severe symptoms in MNHNO (RRR:1.20,
95% CI 0.02-63.17) females. However, in male participants, the RRR of moderate-severe
depressive symptoms only increased non-significantly for the MNHO category (RRR:1.34,
95% CI 0.45-3.98).ConclusionWe did not observe a meaningful association between depressive
symptoms and obesity phenotypes. Also, other than malnutrition or its risk, various
severities of depressive symptoms correlate with different sociodemographic and medical
risk factors among male and female senior citizens.
