Is There any Correlation Between Nutrient Intake and Mental Health in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease? A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of stress, anxiety, and depression seems to be high in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), which may influence their quality of life. Due to limiting some food groups, these patients suffer from a deficiency of some nutrients, which may be related to mood disorders. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the correlation between nutrient intake, stress, anxiety, and depression in patients with CKD. Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted on 90 patients with CKD. To assess the diet of the patients, the researchers completed three days of the 24-hour food recall. The short self-report Iranian version of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale 21 (DASS-21) was also used to investigate the participants' mental health. Results: Of the 90 patients examined, 64 were men and 26 were women. There was a significant inverse correlation between depression and the dietary intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) (β = -0.214, P = 0.039) and α-tocopherol (β = -0.225, P = 0.025). A significant inverse correlation was also found between anxiety and the dietary intake of iron (β = -0.319, P = 0.003), copper (β = -0.25, P = 0.031), vitamin B1 (β = -0.314, P = 0.004), vitamin B5 (β = -0.262, P = 0.016), vitamin B6 (β = -0.292, P = 0.007), vitamin B9 (β = -0.241, P = 0.026), fiber (β = -0.224, P = 0.04), and vitamin K (β = -0.26, P = 0.015). Conclusions: The dietary intake of nutrients such as PUFAs, α-tocopherol, B vitamins, vitamin K, iron, copper, and fiber might be associated with depression and anxiety. However, further studies with longitudinal designs are needed to reveal cause-effect relationships in this regard.