TABLE 2.
Association between elevated depressive symptoms (CES-D ≥16) and n–3 fatty acid absolute and relative exposures: HANDLS study1
| n–3 Fatty acid absolute exposures (% of energy) |
n–3 Fatty acid relative exposures (ratio) |
||||
| n–3 HUFAs | n–3 PUFAs | n–3 HUFA:n–6 HUFA | n–3 HUFA:n–6 PUFA | n–3 PUFA:n–6 PUFA | |
| All (n = 1746) | |||||
| T2 vs. T1 | 0.72 (0.44, 1.17) | 0.70 (0.43, 1.16) | 0.81 (0.51, 1.31) | 0.72 (0.43, 1.19) | 0.91 (0.56, 1.48) |
| T3 vs. T1 | 0.78 (0.48, 1.27) | 0.79 (0.48, 1.29) | 0.79 (0.48, 1.30) | 0.69 (0.42, 1.13) | 0.66* (0.42, 1.04) |
| Men (n = 755) | |||||
| T2 vs. T1 | 1.16 (0.51, 2.66) | 0.86 (0.39, 1.88) | 0.85 (0.42, 1.72) | 1.11 (0.47, 2.63) | 1.37 (0.60, 3.12) |
| T3 vs. T1 | 0.99 (0.47, 2.07) | 1.40 (0.66, 2.97) | 1.40 (0.64, 3.02) | 0.78 (0.35, 1.73) | 1.24 (0.60, 2.56) |
| Women (n = 991) | |||||
| T2 vs. T1 | 0.51** (0.29, 0.90) | 0.60 (0.31, 1.14) | 0.75 (0.40, 1.40) | 0.52**b (0.30, 0.91) | 0.74 (0.41, 1.32) |
| T3 vs. T1 | 0.66 (0.34, 1.28) | 0.51**2 (0.27, 0.95) | 0.52**2 (0.27, 0.99) | 0.66 (0.35, 1.24) | 0.47***2 (0.27, 0.83) |
Values are adjusted ORs with 95% CIs based on multiple logistic regression models. All models adjusted for age, sex (where applicable), race/ethnicity, marital status, education, poverty-income ratio, smoking and drug use status, measured BMI (kg/m2), and selected nutrients (expressed per 1000 kcal) as well as total energy intake, namely B-vitamins (vitamins B-6 and B-12 and total folate), total carotenoids, and vitamins A, C, and E. Each micronutrient was divided by total energy intake and multiplied by 1000 to obtain per 1000 kcal values. For fatty acids, the percentage of energy value was obtained by multiplying by 900 to account for 9 kcal/g energy density of fat. See Table 1 for means ± SEMs within each tertile for fatty acid exposures. n–3 HUFAs included DHA + EPA + n–3 docosapentaenoic acid (DPA). n–6 HUFAs included arachidonic acid (AA). n–3 PUFAs included DHA + EPA + n–3 DPA + α-linolenic acid. n–6 PUFAs included AA + linoleic acid. *P < 0.10, **P < 0.05, ***P < 0.01 for null hypothesis that loge(OR) = 0 (Wald test). CES-D, Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression Scale; HANDLS, Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span; HUFA, highly unsaturated fatty acid; T, tertile.
The association between elevated CES-D score and n–3 fatty acid exposure differed by sex on the basis of a separate model with a sex × exposure interaction term added in addition to the main effect of sex, P < 0.10.