Table 1.
Comparison of Whitehall II participants’ characteristics as a function of the number of depressive symptoms episodes over the 13 years follow-up
| Characteristics of participants | Number of depressive symptoms episodes (n = 4949) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 (n = 3560) | 1 (n = 731) | ≥ 2 (n = 658) | ||
| %/Mean ± SD | %/Mean ± SD | %/Mean ± SD | pd | |
| Socio-demographic factors | ||||
| Sex | ||||
| Men | 76.7 | 64.0 | 62.8 | < 0.001 |
| Women | 23.3 | 36.0 | 37.2 | |
| Age (years) | 61.1 ± 5.9 | 60.8 ± 6.0 | 61 ± 6.1 | 0.46 |
| Ethnicity | ||||
| White | 96.1 | 91.1 | 92.1 | < 0.001 |
| South Asian | 2.5 | 6.7 | 6.4 | |
| Black | 1.4 | 2.2 | 1.5 | |
| Marital status | ||||
| Living alone | 20.1 | 28.6 | 31.8 | < 0.001 |
| Married | 79.9 | 71.4 | 68.2 | |
| Socio-economic status | ||||
| High | 53.0 | 41.0 | 36.6 | < 0.001 |
| Intermediate | 39.9 | 45.8 | 49.7 | |
| Low | 7.2 | 13.1 | 13.7 | |
| Health behaviour factors | ||||
| Smoking habits | ||||
| Never/ex | 93.8 | 91.5 | 90.4 | < 0.001 |
| Smoking | 6.2 | 8.5 | 9.6 | |
| Alcohol intake | ||||
| No | 12.9 | 17.9 | 20.7 | < 0.001 |
| Moderate | 67.1 | 62.0 | 60.2 | |
| Heavy | 20.0 | 20.1 | 19.2 | |
| Physical activity | ||||
| Inactive | 22.0 | 28.3 | 29.5 | < 0.001 |
| Moderate | 16.2 | 16.4 | 19.5 | |
| Active | 61.8 | 55.3 | 51.1 | |
| Total energy intake (kcal/day) | 2156.6 ± 572.5 | 2135.9 ± 611.5 | 2150.7 ± 615.9 | 0.68 |
| Health status factors | ||||
| Heart disease | ||||
| No | 92.0 | 89.9 | 90.0 | 0.07 |
| Yes | 8.0 | 10.1 | 10.0 | |
| Hypertension | ||||
| No | 61.8 | 63.2 | 61.7 | 0.77 |
| Yes | 38.2 | 36.8 | 38.3 | |
| Type 2 diabetes | ||||
| No | 91.8 | 88.4 | 90.7 | 0.01 |
| Yes | 8.2 | 11.6 | 9.3 | |
| HDL cholesterol (mmol/l) | 1.6 ± 0.4 | 1.60 ± 0.4 | 1.58 ± 0.4 | 0.15 |
| Body Mass Index (kg/m2) | 26.5 ± 4.1 | 26.67 ± 4.4 | 26.77 ± 4.5 | 0.24 |
| Cognitive impairment | ||||
| No | 88.2 | 86.2 | 82.7 | < 0.001 |
| Yes | 11.8 | 13.8 | 17.3 | |
| Diet quality scores | ||||
| AHEI-2010a | 58.7 ± 10.7 | 58.3 ± 11.2 | 57.4 ± 11.7 | 0.02 |
| DASHb | 24.2 ± 4.7 | 24.1 ± 5.0 | 23.7 ± 4.8 | 0.04 |
| tMDSc | 4.6 ± 1.6 | 4.5 ± 1.7 | 4.4 ± 1.7 | < 0.001 |
| 11-year cumulative average diet score | ||||
| AHEI-2010a | 58.4 ± 9.0 | 57.9 ± 9.2 | 57.2 ± 9.7 | 0.01 |
| DASHb | 24.2 ± 4.1 | 24.1 ± 4.3 | 23.8 ± 4.3 | 0.08 |
| tMDSc | 4.6 ± 1.3 | 4.6 ± 1.4 | 4.5 ± 1.3 | 0.10 |
Values are percentage or mean ± standard deviation
aAHEI-2010 Alternate Healthy Eating Index of 2010
bDASH Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension
ctMDS transformed Mediterranean Diet Score
dp values are based on X2 test or ANOVA test