Association between adherence to the DASH diet and depression and anxiety severity in the Mashhad Stroke and Heart Atherosclerotic Disorder (MASHAD) study population

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to investigate the association between adherence to the DASH diet and the risk of depression and anxiety severity in a large group of Iranian adults. DESIGN: In this cross-sectional study, dietary intakes were assessed using a validated 65-item food frequency questionnaire. The Beck Anxiety Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory II were used to assess anxiety and depression, respectively. Ordinal logistic regression was applied to evaluate the association between DASH diet and depression and anxiety severity. SETTING: Mashhad stroke and heart atherosclerosis disorder (MASHAD) study. PARTICIPANTS: 6537 and 6539 adults aged 35-65 years for depression and anxiety, respectively. RESULTS: We found no significant association between adherence to the DASH diet and depression severity, in the total participants as well as both gender in either crude (total: OR: 0.98; 95% CI: 0.87-1.09, men: OR: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.73-1.07, and women: OR: 1.01; 95% CI: 0.88-1.17) or fully adjusted models (total: OR: 1.03; 95% CI: 0.91-1.16, men: OR: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.78-1.17, and women: OR: 1.04; 95% CI: 0.90-1.21). Regarding anxiety, we found that men in the third tertile of DASH diet score had lower risk of experiencing more severe anxiety compared to those in the first tertile (OR: 0.80; 95% CI: 0.67-0.96). However, after controlling for potential confounders, this relationship became non-significant (OR: 0.89; 95% CI: 0.74-1.07). In the total participants as well as women, we failed to find any significant association between adherence to the DASH diet and anxiety severity either before (total: OR: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.87-1.09, women: OR: 1.05; 95% CI: 0.92-1.21) or after controlling for possible confounders (total: OR: 1.01; 95% CI: 0.90-1.12, women: OR: 1.06; 95% CI: 0.92-1.22). CONCLUSIONS: We found no significant association between adherence to DASH diet and depression and anxiety severity among adults.