No association between fish intake and depression in over 15,000 older adults from seven low and middle income countries--the 10/66 study.

• Main Authors: Emiliano Albanese, Flavia L Lombardo, Alan D Dangour, Mariella Guerra, Daisy Acosta, Yueqin Huang, K S Jacob, Juan de Jesus Llibre Rodriguez, Aquiles Salas, Claudia Schönborn, Ana Luisa Sosa, Joseph Williams, Martin J Prince, Cleusa P Ferri
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012-01-01
• Series: PLoS ONE
• Online Access: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/22723900/pdf/?tool=EBI

<h4>Background</h4>Evidence on the association between fish consumption and depression is inconsistent and virtually non-existent from low- and middle-income countries. Using a standard protocol, we aim to assess the association of fish consumption and late-life depression in seven low- and middle-income countries.<h4>Methodology/findings</h4>We used cross-sectional data from the 10/66 cohort study and applied two diagnostic criteria for late-life depression to assess the association between categories of weekly fish consumption and depression according to ICD-10 and the EURO-D depression symptoms scale scores, adjusting for relevant confounders. All-catchment area surveys were carried out in Cuba, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Peru, Mexico, China, and India, and over 15,000 community-dwelling older adults (65+) were sampled. Using Poisson models the adjusted association between categories of fish consumption and ICD-10 depression was positive in India (p for trend = 0.001), inverse in Peru (p = 0.025), and not significant in all other countries. We found a linear inverse association between fish consumption categories and EURO-D scores only in Cuba (p for trend = 0.039) and China (p<0.001); associations were not significant in all other countries. Between-country heterogeneity was marked for both ICD-10 (I(2)>61%) and EURO-D criteria (I(2)>66%).<h4>Conclusions</h4>The associations of fish consumption with depression in large samples of older adults varied markedly across countries and by depression diagnosis and were explained by socio-demographic and lifestyle variables. Experimental studies in these settings are needed to confirm our findings.