Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on sleep in brain health

LIVE: Thursday 2nd May 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)

Quality sleep is essential for health. But what happens to our brains when sleep patterns are disturbed? Join our experts to explore the interplay between sleep disruption and neurological diseases, and the questions that you need to be asking your patients to help you prevent the harmful effects of sleep deprivation.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Psychiatry
Published in: BMC Psychiatry 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Research article

Are changes in body-mass-index associated with changes in depressive symptoms? Findings of a population-based longitudinal study among older Germans

Authors: André Hajek, Hans-Helmut König

Published in: BMC Psychiatry | Issue 1/2018

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

The longitudinal relationship between BMI and depressive symptoms is not well understood. Therefore, we aimed at investigating the long-term association between body-mass-index (BMI) and depressive symptoms among older Germans.

Methods

Data were derived from a population-based longitudinal study of adults aged 40 and above in Germany (German Ageing Survey, DEAS). Four waves (2002–2014) were used. Depressive symptoms was assessed by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Linear, quadratic and cubic terms were included for self-reported BMI. Fixed effects regressions were used to estimate the predictors of depressive symptoms.

Results

FE regressions showed a curvilinear effect of BMI on depressive symptoms in the total sample and in women, but not men, with significant gender differences. In sum, the greater the extreme of BMI (either higher or lower), the greater the risk for depressive symptoms in the total sample and in women.

Conclusion

Our findings indicate that the effect of BMI on depressive symptoms is by no means simple. The current study highlight the importance of comprehensive treatment of depression, which include management of (extreme) weight to manage depressive symptoms.
Literature
1.
McTigue KM, Hess R, Ziouras J. Obesity in older adults: a systematic review of the evidence for diagnosis and treatment. Obesity. 2006;14(9):1485–97.CrossRefPubMed
2.
3.
Visser M, Langlois J, Guralnik JM, Cauley JA, Kronmal RA, Robbins J, Williamson JD, Harris TB. High body fatness, but not low fat-free mass, predicts disability in older men and women: the cardiovascular health study. Am J Clin Nutr. 1998;68(3):584–90.CrossRefPubMed
4.
5.
Must A, Spadano J, Coakley EH, Field AE, Colditz G, Dietz WH. The disease burden associated with overweight and obesity. JAMA. 1999;282(16):1523–9.CrossRefPubMed
6.
Bin Li Z, Yin Ho S, Man Chan W, Sang Ho K, Pik Li M, Leung GM, Hing Lam T. Obesity and depressive symptoms in Chinese elderly. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2004;19(1):68–74.CrossRef
7.
8.
Kittel F, Rustin R, Dramaix M, De Backer G, Kornitzer M. Psycho-socio-biological correlates of moderate overweight in an industrial population. J Psychosom Res. 1978;22(3):145–58.CrossRefPubMed
9.
Istvan J, Zavela K, Weidner G. Body weight and psychological distress in NHANES I. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1992;16(12):999–1003.PubMed
10.
Roberts RE, Kaplan GA, Shema SJ, Strawbridge WJ. Are the obese at greater risk for depression? Am J Epidemiol. 2000;152(2):163–70.CrossRefPubMed
11.
Gunasekara FI, Richardson K, Carter K, Blakely T. Fixed effects analysis of repeated measures data. Int J Epidemiol. 2014;43(1):264–9.CrossRefPubMed
12.
Chang JJ, Salas J, Tabet M, Kasper Z, Elder K, Staley H, Brownson RC. Changes in body mass index and the trajectory of depressive symptoms among rural men and women. J Rural Health. 2017;33(2):190–7.
13.
Hawkins MA, Miller DK, Stewart JC. A 9-year, bidirectional prospective analysis of depressive symptoms and adiposity: the African American health study. Obesity. 2015;23(1):192–9.CrossRefPubMed
14.
Vogelzangs N, Kritchevsky SB, Beekman AT, Brenes GA, Newman AB, Satterfield S, Yaffe K, Harris TB, Penninx BW. Obesity and onset of significant depressive symptoms: results from a prospective community-based cohort study of older men and women. J Clin Psychiatry. 2009;71(4):391–9.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
15.
Xiang X, An R. Obesity and onset of depression among US middle-aged and older adults. J Psychosom Res. 2015;78(3):242–8.CrossRefPubMed
16.
17.
Martin-Rodriguez E, Guillen-Grima F, Aubá E, Martí A, Brugos-Larumbe A. Relationship between body mass index and depression in women: a 7-year prospective cohort study. The APNA study. Eur Psychiatry. 2016;32:55–60.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Markowitz S, Friedman MA, Arent SM. Understanding the relation between obesity and depression: causal mechanisms and implications for treatment. Clin Psychol Sci Pract. 2008;15(1):1–20.CrossRef
19.
Geoffroy M-C, Li L, Power C. Depressive symptoms and body mass index: co-morbidity and direction of association in a British birth cohort followed over 50 years. Psychol Med. 2014;44(12):2641–52.CrossRefPubMed
20.
Carpenter KM, Hasin DS, Allison DB, Faith MS. Relationships between obesity and DSM-IV major depressive disorder, suicide ideation, and suicide attempts: results from a general population study. Am J Public Health. 2000;90(2):251.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
21.
Onyike CU, Crum RM, Lee HB, Lyketsos CG, Eaton WW. Is obesity associated with major depression? Results from the third National Health and nutrition examination survey. Am J Epidemiol. 2003;158(12):1139–47.CrossRefPubMed
22.
Sachs-Ericsson N, Burns AB, Gordon KH, Eckel LA, Wonderlich SA, Crosby RD, Blazer DG. Body mass index and depressive symptoms in older adults: the moderating roles of race, sex, and socioeconomic status. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2007;15(9):815–25.CrossRefPubMed
23.
Chiu HC, Chen CM, Huang CJ, Mau LW. Depressive symptoms, chronic medical conditions and functional status: a comparison of urban and rural elders in Taiwan. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2005;20(7):635–44.CrossRefPubMed
24.
Klaus D, Engstler H, Mahne K, Wolff JK, Simonson J, Wurm S, Tesch-Römer C. Cohort profile: the German ageing survey (DEAS). Int J Epidemiol. 2017:1–8.
25.
Klaus D, Engstler H. Daten und Methoden des Deutschen Alterssurveys. In: Mahne K, Wolff JK, Simonson J, Tesch-Römer C, editors. Altern im Wandel: Zwei Jahrzehnte Deutscher Alterssurvey (DEAS). Berlin: Springer; 2016. p. 25–42.
26.
Pforr K, Blohm M, Blom AG, Erdel B, Felderer B, Fräßdorf M, Hajek K, Helmschrott S, Kleinert C, Koch A. Are incentive effects on response rates and nonresponse bias in large-scale, face-to-face surveys generalizable to Germany? Evidence from ten experiments. Public Opin Q. 2015;79(3):740–68.CrossRef
27.
Ryu E, Couper MP, Marans RW. Survey incentives: cash vs. in-kind; face-to-face vs. mail; response rate vs. nonresponse error. Int J Public Opin Res. 2006;18(1):89–106.CrossRef
28.
Hautzinger M. Die CES-D Skala: Ein Depressionsmessinstrument für Untersuchungen in der Allgemeinbevölkerung [the CES-D scale: a depression-rating scale for research in the general population]. Diagnostica. 1988;34(2):167–73.
29.
Radloff LS. The CES-D scale a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Appl Psychol Meas. 1977;1(3):385–401.CrossRef
30.
Lehr D, Hillert A, Schmitz E, Sosnowsky N. Screening depressiver Störungen mittels Allgemeiner depressions-Skala (ADS-K) und state-trait depressions scales (STDS-T). Eine vergleichende evaluation von cut-off-Werten [assessing depressive disorders using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) and state-trait depression scales (STDS-T): a comparative analysis of cut-off scores]. Diagnostica. 2008;54(2):61–70.CrossRef
31.
Rosenberg M. Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton: Princeton University Press; 1965.CrossRef
32.
UNESCO (ed.): International standard classification of education. ISCED 1997, Re-edition edn; 2006.
33.
Ware Jr JE, Sherbourne CD. The MOS 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36): I. Conceptual framework and item selection. Med Care. 1992;30(6):473–83.CrossRef
34.
Bullinger M, Kirchberger I. Fragebogen zum Gesundheitszustand. Handanweisung. Göttingen: Hogrefe; 1998.
35.
Cameron AC, Trivedi PK. Microeconometrics: methods and applications. New York: Cambridge University Press; 2005.CrossRef
36.
Hajek A, König H-H. Informal caregiving and subjective well-being: evidence of a population-based longitudinal study of older adults in Germany. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2015;
37.
Hajek A, König H-H. The effect of intra-and intergenerational caregiving on subjective well-being–evidence of a population based longitudinal study among older adults in Germany. PLoS One. 2016;11(2):e0148916.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
38.
Milner A, Krnjacki L, Butterworth P, LaMontagne AD. The role of social support in protecting mental health when employed and unemployed: a longitudinal fixed-effects analysis using 12 annual waves of the HILDA cohort. Soc Sci Med. 2016;153:20–6.CrossRefPubMed
39.
Brüderl J, Ludwig V. Fixed-effects panel regression. In: Wolf C, editor. The Sage handbook of regression analysis and causal inference. Los Angeles: SAGE; 2015. p. 327–57.
40.
Brüderl J. Kausalanalyse mit Paneldaten. In: Wolf C, Best H, editors. Handbuch der sozialwissenschaftlichen Datenanalyse. Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag; 2010. p. 963–94.CrossRef
41.
Gangl M. Causal inference in sociological research. Annu Rev Sociol. 2010;36:21–47.CrossRef
42.
Greene WH. Econometric analysis. 7th ed. Boston: Pearson; 2012.
43.
Wooldridge JM. Econometric analysis of cross section and panel data. Cambridge: MIT Press; 2010.
44.
45.
Kodjebacheva G, Kruger DJ, Rybarczyk G, Cupal S. Racial/ethnic and gender differences in the association between depressive symptoms and higher body mass index. Journal of Public Health. 2015;37(3):419–26.CrossRefPubMed
46.
Xie B, Chou C, Spruijt-Metz D, Liu C, Xia J, Gong J, Li Y, Johnson C. Effects of perceived peer isolation and social support availability on the relationship between body mass index and depressive symptoms. Int J Obes. 2005;29(9):1137–43.CrossRef
47.
Gorber SC, Tremblay M, Moher D, Gorber B. A comparison of direct vs. self-report measures for assessing height, weight and body mass index: a systematic review. Obes Rev. 2007;8(4):307–26.CrossRefPubMed
48.
Schiel S, Knerr P, Dickmann C, Aust F. Methodenbericht Deutscher Alterssurvey (DEAS): 4. Befragungswelle. Berlin: Panelbefragung; 2011.
49.
Luppino FS, de Wit LM, Bouvy PF, Stijnen T, Cuijpers P, Penninx BW, Zitman FG. Overweight, obesity, and depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2010;67(3):220–9.CrossRefPubMed
50.
Opel N, Redlich R, Grotegerd D, Dohm K, Heindel W, Kugel H, Arolt V, Dannlowski U. Obesity and major depression: body-mass index (BMI) is associated with a severe course of disease and specific neurostructural alterations. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2015;51:219–26.CrossRefPubMed
51.
Penninx BW, Milaneschi Y, Lamers F, Vogelzangs N. Understanding the somatic consequences of depression: biological mechanisms and the role of depression symptom profile. BMC Med. 2013;11(1):1.CrossRef
52.
Mouw T. Estimating the causal effect of social capital: a review of recent research. Annu Rev Sociol. 2006;32:79–102.CrossRef
53.
Hajek A, König H-H. Longitudinal predictors of functional impairment in older adults in Europe – evidence from the survey of health, ageing and retirement in Europe. PLoS One. 2016;11(1):e0146967.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
54.
Hajek A, Brettschneider C, Posselt T, Lange C, Mamone S, Wiese B, Weyerer S, Werle J, Fuchs A, Pentzek M, et al. Predictors of frailty in old age–results of a longitudinal study. J Nutr Health Aging. 2016;20(9):952–7.
55.
Hajek A, Brettschneider C, Lange C, Posselt T, Wiese B, Steinmann S, Weyerer S, Werle J, Pentzek M, Fuchs A, et al. Longitudinal predictors of institutionalization in old age. PLoS One. 2015;10(12):e0144203.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
Metadata
Title
Are changes in body-mass-index associated with changes in depressive symptoms? Findings of a population-based longitudinal study among older Germans
Authors
André Hajek
Hans-Helmut König
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Psychiatry / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1471-244X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-018-1748-1

Other articles of this Issue 1/2018

BMC Psychiatry 1/2018 Go to the issue

Case report

Anorexia nervosa-associated pancytopenia mimicking idiopathic aplastic anemia: a case report

Research article

Factors associated with involuntary hospitalisation for psychiatric patients in Switzerland: a retrospective study

Research article

Preliminary evaluation of an intensive integrated individual and family therapy model for self-harming adolescents

Research article

The economic consequences of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in the Scottish prison system

Research article

FT4 and TSH, relation to diagnoses in an unselected psychiatric acute-ward population, and change during acute psychiatric admission

Research article

Prevalence and determinants of antepartum depressive and anxiety symptoms in expectant mothers and fathers: results from a perinatal psychiatric morbidity cohort study in the east and west coasts of Malaysia