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. 2024 Feb 14;24(1):469.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-17925-z.

Association between geriatric nutritional risk index and depression prevalence in the elderly population in NHANES

Zijiao Li #  1 , Li Zhang #  2 , Qiankun Yang  3 , Xiang Zhou  1 , Meng Yang  1 , Yu Zhang  4 , Youzan Li  5
Affiliations

Association between geriatric nutritional risk index and depression prevalence in the elderly population in NHANES

Zijiao Li et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of depression is increasing in the elderly population, and growing evidence suggests that malnutrition impacts mental health. Despites, research on the factors that predict depression is limited.

Methods: We included 2946 elderly individuals from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) spanning the years 2011 through 2014. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the PHQ-9 scale. Multinomial logistic regression was performed to evaluate the independent association between Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) and depression prevalence and scores. Subgroup analysis was conducted to explore potential factors influencing the negative correlation between GNRI and depression. Restricted cubic spline graph was employed to examine the presence of a non-linear relationship between GNRI and depression.

Results: The depression group had a significantly lower GNRI than the non-depression group, and multivariate logistic regression showed that GNRI was a significant predictor of depression (P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed that certain demographic characteristics were associated with a lower incidence of depression in individuals affected by GNRIs. These characteristics included being female (P < 0.0001), non-Hispanic black (P = 0.0003), having a moderate BMI (P = 0.0005), having a college or associates (AA) degree (P = 0.0003), being married (P = 0.0001), having a PIR between 1.50 and 3.49 (P = 0.0002), being a former smoker (P = 0.0002), and having no history of cardiovascular disease (P < 0.0001), hypertension (P < 0.0001), and diabetes (P = 0.0027). Additionally, a non-linear negative correlation (non-linear P < 0.01) was found between GNRI and depression prevalence, with a threshold identified at GNRI = 104.17814.

Conclusion: The GNRI demonstrates efficacy as a reliable indicator for forecasting depression in the elderly population. It exhibits a negative nonlinear correlation with the prevalence of depression among geriatric individuals.

Keywords: Depression; Depression prevention; Geriatric nutritional risk index; NHANES database; Older adults; Statistical analysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Participant recruitment standard flow chart
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Violin plot of GNRI distribution in non-depressed and depressed subjects
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Forest plot of high GNRI subgroup analysis using low GNRI as reference
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Restricted spline regression showed the correlation between GNRI and depression in the elderly
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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