Mishra Kumar Guru, Patnaik Nabnita, Harshitha Bobba, Mohandas Anu, Roy Adrija, Patnaik Snigdha
Department of Community Medicine, Apollo Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, AIIMS Bibinagar, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
J Pharm Bioallied Sci. 2024 Oct-Dec;16(4):130-136. doi: 10.4103/jpbs.jpbs_701_24. Epub 2025 Mar 26.
Food insecurity has been linked to adverse mental health outcomes, particularly depression. However, there is a paucity of community-based studies investigating this association, especially in southern India. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of food insecurity and examine its association with depressive symptoms among adults in a rural village in Telangana, India.
This cross-sectional study recruited 537 participants aged 18-60 years from Moinabad village using a multistage cluster sampling technique. Food insecurity was assessed using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale, and depressive symptoms were measured using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Sociodemographic data, including age, gender, educational attainment, addiction history etc., were collected, and logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association between food insecurity and depressive symptoms, adjusting for potential confounders.
The prevalence of food insecurity was high at 86.21%. A significant finding was the strong positive association between increasing food insecurity levels and presence of depressive symptoms. Compared to the food-secure group, those with moderate food insecurity had 10.55 times higher adjusted odds ratio (aOR) (aOR = 10.55, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.25-82.64) and those with severe food insecurity had 9.26 times higher aOR (aOR = 9.26, 95% CI: 1.16-71.78) of having depressive symptoms.
This study reveals a high prevalence of food insecurity, disproportionately affecting vulnerable groups. It establishes a strong positive association between increasing food insecurity levels and depressive symptoms, highlighting the detrimental impact on mental health. Other risk factors for depression include sociodemographic characteristics such as older age, female gender, lower educational level, and addiction history.
粮食不安全与不良心理健康结果有关，尤其是抑郁症。然而，缺乏基于社区的研究来调查这种关联，特别是在印度南部。本研究旨在估计印度特伦甘纳邦一个乡村成年人中粮食不安全的患病率，并检验其与抑郁症状的关联。
本横断面研究采用多阶段整群抽样技术，从莫伊纳巴德村招募了537名年龄在18至60岁之间的参与者。使用粮食不安全体验量表评估粮食不安全状况，使用汉密尔顿抑郁量表测量抑郁症状。收集了社会人口学数据，包括年龄、性别、教育程度、成瘾史等，并进行逻辑回归分析，以评估粮食不安全与抑郁症状之间的关联，同时对潜在混杂因素进行调整。
粮食不安全的患病率很高，为86.21%。一个重要发现是，粮食不安全程度增加与抑郁症状的存在之间存在强烈的正相关。与粮食安全组相比，中度粮食不安全者出现抑郁症状的调整优势比（aOR）高10.55倍（aOR = 10.55，95%置信区间[CI]：1.25 - 82.64），重度粮食不安全者的aOR高9.26倍（aOR = 9.26，95% CI：1.16 - 71.78）。
本研究揭示了粮食不安全的高患病率，对弱势群体的影响尤为严重。它确立了粮食不安全程度增加与抑郁症状之间的强烈正相关，突出了对心理健康的有害影响。抑郁症的其他风险因素包括年龄较大、女性、教育水平较低和成瘾史等社会人口学特征。
