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Tea Consumption and Depression from Follow Up in the Singapore Longitudinal Ageing Study

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The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

Objectives

Experimental evidence suggest that tea polyphenols have anti-depressant effect and tea consumption may reduce the risk and severity of depression. We investigated whether tea consumption was associated with changes in depressive symptoms over time among Asian older adults.

Design

Population-based prospective cohort study with mean 4 years of follow up.

Setting

Singapore Longitudinal Ageing Study (SLAS) of community-living older persons.

Participants

3177 participants overall (mean age 67 years) and 3004 participants who were depression-free at baseline.

Measurements

Baseline tea consumption which include Chinese (black, oolong or green) tea or Western (mixed with milk) tea and change in Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) measure of depression. Incident depression was defined by GDS≥5, and GDS depression improvement or deterioration by GDS change of ≥4 points. Estimated odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals (OR, 95%CI) were adjusted for baseline age, sex, ethnicity, education, housing type, single/divorced/widowed, living alone, physical and social activity, smoking, alcohol, number of comorbidities, MMSE, and baseline GDS level.

Results

Compared to non-tea drinkers, participants who consumed ≥3 cups of tea of all kinds were significantly less likely to have worsened GDS symptoms: OR=0.32, 95% CI=0.12, 0.84. Among baseline depression-free participants, the risk of incident GDS (≥5) depression was significantly lower (OR=0.34, 95%CI=0.13, 0.90) for daily consumption of all types of tea, and Chinese (black, oolong or green) tea (OR=0.46, 95%CI=0.21,0.99).

Conclusion

This study suggests that tea may prevent the worsening of existing depressive symptoms and the reduce the likelihood of developing threshold depression.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the following voluntary welfare organizations for their support: Geylang East Home for the Aged, Presbyterian Community Services, Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society (Moral Neighbourhood Links), Yuhua Neighbourhood Link, Henderson Senior Citizen’s Home, National Trade Union Congress Eldercare Co-op Ltd, Thong Kheng Senior Activity Centre (Queenstown) and Redhill Moral Seniors Activity Centre.

Funding

Funding: This study was supported by research grants from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Biomedical Research Council (BMRC Grant 03/1/21/17/214) and Ministry of Health (MOH) National Medical Research Council (NMRC 08/1/21/19/567; NMRC/CG/NUHCS/2010).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 9, NUHS Tower Block, 1E Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119228, Singapore

    Tze Pin Ng, Q. Gao, X. Gwee & D. Q. L. Chua

  2. Geriatric Education and Research Institute, Singapore, Singapore

    Tze Pin Ng

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  1. Tze Pin Ng
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  2. Q. Gao
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Contributions

Authors’ Contributions: TPN designed research, wrote paper and had primary responsibility for final content; QG, XYG, DQLC designed and conducted research; TPN analysed data and performed statistical analyses; All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript for publication.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tze Pin Ng.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest (COI) Statement: The funding sources had no role in the design and conduct of the study: collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit manuscript for publication. The authors have no potential conflicts of interest.

Ethical Standards: This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and the protocol was approved by the National University of Singapore Institutional Review Board (NUS-IRB; Reference Code: 04–140).

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Ng, T.P., Gao, Q., Gwee, X. et al. Tea Consumption and Depression from Follow Up in the Singapore Longitudinal Ageing Study. J Nutr Health Aging 25, 295–301 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-020-1526-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-020-1526-x

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