Association Between Weight-Adjusted Waist Index and Depressive Symptoms Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Evidence From Two Prospective Longitudinal Cohort Studies.

AIM: The association between obesity and depression has been debated. This study aimed to explore the long-term relationship between the weight-adjusted waist index (WWI) and depression in different ethnic groups.

METHODS: This prospective cohort study analyzed data from English Longitudinal Study on Aging (ELSA) and Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The exposure variable was the WWI at baseline, calculated by dividing the waist circumference (cm) by the square root of weight (kg). Depressive symptoms were assessed using the CESD-8. The longitudinal relationship between WWI and depression was analyzed using Cox proportional hazards and restricted cubic spline (RCS) regression models.

RESULTS: During the 12-year follow-up period, depressive symptoms were observed in 55.1% of HRS patients (1851/3359) and 54.8% of ELSA patients (1810/3303). In fully adjusted Cox regression analysis, participants in the 4th quartile of the WWI exhibited a 33% elevated risk of depression (HR = 1.33, 95% CI: 1.15-1.54). Furthermore, the fully adjusted RCS regression model revealed a positive linear association between WWI and the risk of depression.

CONCLUSION: Our studies demonstrated a positive linear correlation between WWI and elevated risk of depression. Alterations in WWI have the potential to predict the occurrence of depression in middle-aged and elderly individuals.