Wilmar Jun Orbiso Elopre
Central Mindanao University, Philippines
Title: Relation between dietary omega-3 (n-3) and omega-6 (n-6) fatty acid intake and depressive symptoms in college students of Central Mindanao University
Biography
Biography: Wilmar Jun Orbiso Elopre
Abstract
This study aimed to determine the relationship between the intake of n-3 and n-6 fatty acids and the incidence of depression in college students. The study especially tested whether the association between the two was strong enough to be significant despite the effects of confounders found in college environment. A cross sectional questionnaire survey was conducted to collect the different from two hundred one (201) college respondents for this study. Usual food intake recall (UFIR) was used to determine the n-3 and n-6 fatty acid intake; beck depression inventory- II (BDI - II) for the ascertainment of depressive symptoms and a miscellaneous questionnaire for the determination of confounders. The study used the binary hierarchical logistic regression analysis to analyze the data. The results showed that there was significant relationship between n-3 and n-6 fatty acid intake and depressive symptoms in college students (χ2=12.39, df=1; p<0.000). The n-3 and n-6 fatty acid intake variable strongly predicted the incidence of depressive symptoms in the hierarchical model (p<0.001; df=1) and that the association was independent from the influence of the confounders. The odds ratio for a college student with adequate n-3 and n-6 fatty acid intake to have no depressive symptoms is 4.509 times more than a college student with inadequate intake (95% CI=1.857 to 10.949).