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Table 3 Study characteristics of eligible studies included in this review, grouped by study design, year of publication, and author

From: The association between diet quality, dietary patterns and depression in adults: a systematic review

Author, country of study, year

n = subjects (%females)

Age, years; Mean (±SD) or range, yr

Population description

Dietary assessment

Depression assessment

Quality score%

Tool

Type

Tool

Cut-off

Cohort

Akbaraly et al., UK, 2009 [21]

3486 (26.2)

55.6 (*), 35–55

White European participants in the Whitehall II study with diet data at 1997–9, and depression data at 2002–4

FFQ, validated, 127 items

(i) Whole food

CES-D

>15

100

(ii) Processed food

Sanchez-Villegas et al., Spain, 2009 [36]

10,094 (% in categories of adherence to Med. diet; 0–2: 59.9 3: 61.4 4: 58.0 5: 57.4 6–9: 56.0)

Age in categories of adherence to Med. diet; 0–2: 33.3 (9.8) 3: 35.7 (10.7) 4: 36.8 (11.3) 5: 38.0 (11.6) 6–9: 41.3 (12.1)

SUN Spanish cohort of former students of University of Navarra, registered professionals from some Spanish provinces and other university graduates

FFQ, validated, 136 items

Mediterranean diet

Self-reported question

83.3

Chatzi et al., Greece, 2011 [15]

529 (100)

*

Prospective mother-child cohort, recruitment mid-pregnancy, follow up 8–10 weeks post-partum

FFQ, validated for this particular cohort, 250 items

(i) Western pattern

EPDS

≥13

91.7

(ii) Healthy pattern

Okubu et al., Japan, 2011 [23]

865 (100)

29.9 (4.0)

Pregnant females enrolled in the Osaka Maternal and Child Health Study, recruited 2001–3, follow up 2–9 months post-partum

DHQ, validated, 145 items

(i) Healthy diet

EPDS

≥9

100

(ii) Western diet

(iii) Japanese diet

Sanchez-Villegas et al., Spain, 2011 [20]

8,964 (*)

*

SUN Spanish cohort of former students of University of Navarra, registered professionals from some Spanish provinces and other university graduates

FFQ, validated, 136 items, 2 × 24 hour diet recalls

(i) Fast food

Self-reported question

100

(ii) Commercial baked goods

Case–control

Park et al., Korea, 2010 [37]

130 (100)

Cases: 20.6 (0.2)

Korean female College students residing in Incheon area, recruited 2009

Independently constructed self-reported dietary habits questionnaire 16 items

(i) Dietary pattern of meat, fish, eggs, beans more than twice a day

CES-D

≥16

84.6

Control: 20.5 (0.2)

(ii) Total dietary habits score

Cross-sectional

Tangney et al., USA, 2002 [26]

117 (100)

61.5 (*)

Female breast cancer patients of urban teaching hospital, cancer diagnosis 0.5–5 years prior to 1997

HHHQ transcribed to modified Block FFQ, HEI

Diet quality ascertained by HEI score

CES-D

≥16

88.9

Liu et al., China, 2007 [30]

2,579 (42.1)

20.4 (*)

College students over 7 cities in China, recruited 2003–4

Independently constructed FFQ specifically for study

(i) Ready to eat food

CES-D, adapted to use 3 items

88.9

(ii) Snack food

(iii) Fast food

Samieri et al., France, 2008 [25]

1,724 (62.5)

65+

Community-dwelling residents of Bordeaux, France, enrolled in Three-City study, recruited 2001–2

FFQ, 24 hour diet recall

(i) Biscuits and snacking

CES-D, hybrid analyses

88.9

(ii) Healthy diet

(iii) Charcuterie, starchy foods (women) ψ

(iv) Pizza, sandwich (women)

Jeffery et al., USA, 2009 [19]

4,655 (100)

52.4 (6.6)

Telephone survey of females enrolled in the Group Health Cooperative who had previously completed survey regarding breast cancer risk

Independently constructed FFQ, 39 items

(i) High calorie sweet diet

PHQ

≥10

55.6

(ii) High calorie non-sweet diet

(iii) Low calorie diet

Beydoun et al., USA, 2009 [32]

(i) 1789 (56.1)

(i) 30–64

Two subsamples of HANDLS, recruited from initial recruitment phase in 2004; sample (ii) also had information regarding bone quality

USDA,AMPM 2 × 24 hour diet recall, validated, 2005 HEI

Diet quality ascertained by HEI

CES-D

≥16, and ≥20

88.9

(ii) 30–64

(ii) 1583 (56.5)

Mikolajczyk et al., Europe, 2009 [38]

Germany: 696 (56.6)

20.6 (2.3) (Combined)

First Year College students, subsample of participants enrolled in Cross National Student Health Survey, recruited 2005

FFQ, 12 items

Fast food

M-BDI

≥35

77.8

Poland: 489 (71.8)

Bulgaria: 654 (68.7)

Pagoto et al., USA, 2009 [24]

210 (78.4)

51.8 (11.2)

Residents of Lawrence, Massachusetts, enrolled in Lawrence Diabetes Prevention Project, 2004–7

3 × 24 hour diet recalls

Alternate HEI

CES-D

≥16

88.9

Beydoun et al., USA, 2010 [34]

1,681 (56.3)

Males: 47.9 (9.3)

Subsample of HANDLS, recruited from initial recruitment phase 2004–8

USDA, AMPM, validated, 2× 24 hour recall, 2005 HEI

Diet quality ascertained by HEI score

CES-D

≥16

88.9

Females: 47.9 (9.2)

Beydoun and Wang, USA, 2010 [33]

2,217 (50.3)

20–39

Subsample of NHANES, pooled for periods 1999–2000, 2001–2, 2003–4

USDA, AMPM, validated, 2× 24 hour recall, 2005 HEI

Diet quality ascertained by HEI score

CIDI

<curve AUC = 0.83

88.9

Jacka et al., Australia, 2010 [7]

1,046 (100)

20–93

Females enrolled in Geelong Osteoporosis Study, recruited 1994–7

FFQ, validated, 74 items

(i) Western diet

SCID-I/NP

100

(ii) Traditional diet

(iii) ‘Modern’ diet

Kuczmarski et al., USA, 2010 [29]

1,118 (55.7)

48.4 (0.3)

Subsample of HANDLS, urban population, recruited from initial recruitment phase 2004–8

USDA 2005 HEI, 2 x dietary recalls

Total diet quality

CES-D

≥16

88.9

Mamplekou et al., Mediterranean Islands, 2010 [28]

1,190 (53.5)

65–100

Randomly recruited, population-based sample of elderly individuals residing in the Republic of Cyprus, and the islands of Mitilini, Samothraki, Cephanlonia, Crete, Corfu, Lemnos and Zakynthos

FFQ, validated, MedDietScore

Mediterranean diet

GDS

>10

88.9

Nanri et al., Japan, 2010 [22]

521 (40.7)

21–67

Employees of two municipal offices in Northeastern Kyushu, Japan, who attended a periodic health examination, recruited 2006

BDHQ, validated, 65 items, Principle component analysis

(i) Healthy Japanese diet pattern

CES-D

≥16

100

(ii) Animal food pattern

(iii) Westernized breakfast pattern

Aihara et al., Japan, 2011 [27]

833 (56.5)

Males: 76.1 (5.0)

Random recruitment from rosters of community associations of Odawara, Japan

Independently constructed, self-reported dietary habits, single question “ Do you eat well-balanced meals (i.e., intake of a variety of food with staple food, as well as main and side dishes)?

Well balanced diet

GDS-5

≥2

88.9

Females: 74.9 (5.5)

Castellanos et al., USA, 2011 [39]

75 (0)

29.6 (8.2)

Latino males residing in Mississippi, convenience sample

The Block fat and fruit and vegetable screening tool for

(i) Fruit and vegetable

CES-D

≥16

77.8

    

Mexican Americans, validated

(ii) Fat intake

   

Crawford et al., USA, 2011 [40]

626 (100)

45–54

Females enrolled in the Midlife Health Study, recruited 2002–4

Single question “How often did you eat foods from the following restaurants during the past year?”

Fast food frequency

CES-D

≥16

77.8

Fowles, Timmerman et al. USA, 2011 [41]

50 (100)

24.0 (*)

Low-income females in first trimester of pregnancy, identified as uninsured or underinsured by Texas-based insurance records, recruited 2009

DQI-P, 3 × 24 hour diet recall

Fast food frequency

EPDS

≥10

77.8

Fowles, Bryant et al. USA, 2011 [31]

118 (100)

25.3 (5.3)

Low-income females in first trimester of pregnancy, identified as uninsured or underinsured by Texas-based insurance records, recruited 2009-10

DQI-P, 3 × 24 hour diet recall

Total diet quality

EPDS

≥10

88.9

Jacka et al., Norway, 2011 [8]

5,731 (56.8)

46–49 (n = 2,957)

Subsample of Hordaland Health Study, participants from four communities, born in years 1925–7 or 1950–1

FFQ, validated, 169 items

(i) Healthy diet

HADS-D

≥8

88.9

70–74 (n = 2,774)

(ii) Western diet

(iii) Norwegian diet

(iv) Diet quality score

  1. * Data not provided.
  2. Abbreviations: FFQ Food Frequency Questionnaire, USDA United States Department of Agriculture, AMPM Automated Multiple Pass Method, HEI Healthy Eating Index, CES-D Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression, GDS Geriatric Depression Scale, EPDS Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, DHQ Diet History Questionnaire, BDHQ Brief Dietary History Questionnaire, PHQ Patient Health Questionnaire, CIDI Composite International Diagnostic Interview (Version 2.1), SCID-I/NP Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Research Version, Non-Patient Edition, HADS-D Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale for depression, M-BDI Modified Beck Depression Inventory, HANDLS Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span, SUN Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra, DQI-P Dietary Quality Index-Pregnancy.
  3. ψ The analysis undertaken for male participants by Samieri et al. [25] was based on a food pattern of meat consumption and thus ineligible for inclusion.