Muscle Strength Moderates the Relationship between Nutritional Health Risk and Depression in Korean Older Adults |
| |
Authors: | Jeonghyeon Kim Seamon Kang Haeryun Hong Hyunsik Kang Ju-Hyoung Kim Sang-Koo Woo |
| |
Institution: | 1.College of Sport Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Korea; (J.K.); (S.K.); (H.H.);2.Department of Physical Education, Andong National University, Andong 36729, Korea; (J.-H.K.); (S.-K.W.) |
| |
Abstract: | Background: Little is known about the relationships between muscle strength and nutritional health risk with late-in-life depression. This study aimed to investigate the moderating effect of lower-extremity muscle strength on the relationship between nutritional health risk and depression in Korean older adults. Methods: Data obtained from 5949 women and 3971 men aged ≥ 65 years in the 2020 Korea Longitudinal Study on Aging were used in this study. Exposures included lower-extremity muscle strength and nutritional health risk. Lower-extremity muscle strength was measured with a modified sit-to-stand test. The nutritional health risk was assessed using a screening tool. Depression was defined as a score ≥ 8 points on the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Results: Logistic regression analyses showed that depression was positively associated with nutritional health risk (p < 0.001) and inversely associated with lower-extremity muscle strength (p < 0.001). A moderation analysis with Andrew Hayes’ PROCESS macro showed a significant moderating effect of lower-extremity muscle strength (β = −0.119; 95% confidence interval, −0.172 to −0.066; p < 0.001) on the relationship between nutritional health risk and depression; the weaker was the muscle strength, the steeper was the slope of the GDS score for nutritional health risk. Conclusions: The current findings suggest the need for an intervention targeting both high nutritional risk and weak muscle strength as a therapeutic strategy against depression in Korean older adults. |
| |
Keywords: | depression nutrition physical fitness lifestyle risk factors older adults Koreans |
|
|