Association between self-changes in body mass index patterns and depressive symptoms: a longitudinal follow-up study

To evaluate the association between longitudinal self-initiated changes in body mass index patterns and depression in a large sample of adults and older individuals.

Participants included 1,944 adults and older individuals with depressive symptoms at baseline who underwent routine health screening examinations. Depression was defined as Beck Depression Inventory-II scores ≥14. Body mass index, blood pressure, blood samples, alcohol consumption, smoking status, physical activity levels, perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and lower urinary tract symptoms were collected at baseline and follow-up (mean 545.9±152.9 days). Participants were stratified according to their body mass index patterns at baseline and follow-up as follows: i) remained healthy, ii) became healthy, iii) became obese, and iv) remained obese. Hierarchical logistic regression was performed to evaluate the association between body mass index patterns and depression at follow-up.

At follow-up, participants who remained obese had higher odds of depression (odds ratio: 1.33 95% confidence interval: 1.04-1.71, p=0.026) after adjustment for clinical and lifestyle variables.

In participants who remained obese, obesity was longitudinally associated with depression in both adults and older individuals.