Association between poor nutritional status and severe depression in Korean cerebral infarction patients

The purpose of this study was to assess the association between cerebral infarction (CI), nutritional status, and depression.

Subjects with and without CI (n = 146; 73 CI vs. 73 non-CI) were recruited from Kyung Hee University Medical Center (Seoul, Korea) and were matched according to age and gender. The subjects' medical histories, health-related behavioral habits, food intake, nutritional assessment, and depression status were analyzed.

The prevalence of hypertension or diabetes were much higher in subjects in the CI group than in the non-CI group (P < 0.001). Subjects with CI registered lower dietary intakes of potassium, dietary fiber, fish, fruits, and vegetables than non-CI subjects (P < 0.05). By the mini-nutritional assessment (MNA) classification, malnutrition affected 57.5% of subjects in the CI group, but none of the subjects in the non-CI group (P < 0.001). The average Beck depression inventory (BDI) score was 43.6 ± 7.7 points in the CI group and 20.6 ± 13.1 points in the non-CI group (P < 0.001). Higher MNA scores (well-nourished status) were inversely associated with CI prevalence (odds ratio (OR) = 0.23; 95% CI: 0.07, 0.79) after controlling for age, gender, medical history, and health-related factors, whereas BDI was not associated with CI prevalence (OR = 1.32; 95% CI: 0.90, 1.94).

CI patients had several comorbidities, inappropriate health-related behavioral habits, malnourished status, and severe depression prior to CI onset. Indices of well-nourished status were inversely associated with CI. Accordingly, it would be desirable to develop a protocol for medical nutrition therapy in CI patients to improve nutritional status.