Relationship between nutritional literacy and depression status among COVID-19 survivors: A cross-sectional study

Relationship between nutritional literacy and depression status among COVID-19 survivors: A cross-sectional studyA t the end of 2019, the world was faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, which started in Hubei Province, China.At the beginning of January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that this pandemic was an international public health emergency. [1]WHO stated that more than 400 million cases of COVID-19 occurred worldwide, and 6 million of them were reported to have died. [2]e COVID-19 pandemic, which has been ongoing since 2020, has had a substantial impact on global mental health, with prevalence rates of depression and anxiety increasing dramatically across diverse populations. [3]However, mental health impacts during pandemics are not a novel phenomenon.The Ebola outbreak in West Africa (2014-2016) demonstrated high prevalence rates of mental health disorders, with 48% of the population experiencing anxiety-depression symptoms and 76% showing PTSD symptoms. [4]Recent studies on Ebola survivors revealed that 3.9% experienced major depression and 12% developed substance use disorders, significantly exceeding regional baseline rates. [5]e SARS pandemic (2002-2003) and similar MERS-CoV outbreaks produced comparable psychological impacts, albeit with more geographically limited scope compared to COVID-19. [6]Comparative analysis across respiratory pandemics indicates that despite pathogen variation, psychological Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone's mental health as well as their physical health.The aim of this study was to examine the impact of nutritional literacy on depression status among COVID-19 survivors.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on COVID-19 survivors in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, from March to June 2022.According to the sample size, a total of 567 participants were selected.To assess depression status, participants completed the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 Items (DASS-21) questionnaire, with each category consisting of 7 questions.The participants' nutritional literacy status was tested using the Short Food Literacy Questionnaire (SFLQ), which consists of 16 questions.Results: Most of the participants were women (71.8%) and had undergraduate education (44.3%).The literacy status of most participants was in the good category (53.6%).Regarding depression status, the majority did not experience depression (72.8%), followed by mild depression (8.5%), moderate depression (11.8%), severe depression (6%), and extremely severe depression (6%).The results of the bivariate test analysis showed a significant correlation between nutritional literacy and depression status (p=0.000,r=-0.236).