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Egg consumption and prevalence of psychological disorders in adults

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Abstract

Purpose

No previous study has examined the associations between egg consumption and prevalence of psychological disorders. The present study was conducted to determine the association between egg consumption and depression in a large sample of Iranian adults.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 3172 adults in Isfahan, Iran. Egg consumption was assessed by using a validated, self-administered, dish-based, semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. The Iranian validated version of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was used to screen for anxiety and depression. The Iranian validated version of General Health Questionnaire with 12 items was used to assess psychological distress. Depression, anxiety and psychological distress were defined according to standard criteria.

Results

The mean age of the study participants was 36.5 ± 7.9 years. Depression, anxiety and psychological distress were prevalent among 28.4, 13.6 and 23% of the study subjects, respectively. After controlling for potential confounders, no significant association was observed between egg intake and depression (OR for comparing extreme quartiles: 1.08; 95% CIs 0.80–1.45) and anxiety (OR 0.79; 95% CIs 0.54–1.16), as well as psychological distress (OR 1.03; 95% CIs 0.76–1.41) in the whole population. In men, significant positive associations were observed between egg intake and depression before controlling for BMI (OR 1.68; 95% CIs 1.01–2.80); however, the associations became non-significant after taking BMI into account (OR 1.62; 95% CIs 0.96–2.72).

Conclusions

We found no significant association between egg intake and psychological disorders. Further studies, in particular of prospective design, are warranted.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the authorities of SEPAHAN study for allowing us to work on that dataset. The study was supported by a Grant from the National Institute for Medical Research Development (Grant number 971028).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Students’ Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Fateme Shafiei & Asma Salari-Moghaddam

  2. Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 14155-6117, Tehran, Iran

    Fateme Shafiei, Hamed Pouraram, Asma Salari-Moghaddam & Ahmad Esmaillzadeh

  3. Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    Ammar Hassanzadeh Keshteli

  4. Integrative Functional Gastroenterology Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Ammar Hassanzadeh Keshteli & Peyman Adibi

  5. Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Hamid Afshar

  6. Obesity and Eating Habits Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Molecular-Cellular Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Ahmad Esmaillzadeh

  7. Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Ahmad Esmaillzadeh

Authors
  1. Fateme Shafiei
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  2. Ammar Hassanzadeh Keshteli
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Correspondence to Hamed Pouraram or Ahmad Esmaillzadeh.

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Shafiei, F., Keshteli, A.H., Pouraram, H. et al. Egg consumption and prevalence of psychological disorders in adults. Eur J Nutr 58, 1923–1932 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-018-1739-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-018-1739-5

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