Association between Lifestyle Habits and Major Depression in Patients Attending Psychiatric Clinics in Sana’a City, Yemen: A Case-Control Study

Abstract

Background: Depression is a serious mental disorder and is ranked as the fourth leading cause of disease burden worldwide, which can be multifactorial with unclear etiology. Therefore, this study assessed the association be­tween certain lifestyle habits and depression among psychiatric patients in Sana’a city, Yemen.

Methods: An unmatched case-control study was conducted in October and November 2019 at Al-Amal Hospital for Psychiatric Diseases and outpatient clinics of the University of Science and Technology Hospital (USTH) in Sana’a. Thirty patients aged 18–65 years, with a mean age of 31.1 ± 10.4 years, who were diagnosed with major or unipolar depression for the first time in the past three months were conveniently selected as cases, while 90 adult subjects, with a mean age of 30.9 ± 10.5 years, were conveniently selected as non-depressed controls from various USTH clinics other than the psychiatric clinic during the study period. Data on sociodemographic characteristics and lifestyle habits were collected using a structured questionnaire. Univariate analysis using the chi-square or Fisher’s exact test was used to test the association between lifestyle habits and depression, with a confidence level of less than 0.05.

Results: There was no statistically significant association between depression among patients attending psychi­atric clinics and current smoking status (OR = 0.9, 95% CI: 0.29–2.57; P = 0.785), khat chewing (OR = 1.0, 95% CI: 0.41–2.25; P = 0.913), or the frequency of khat chewing (OR = 0.8, 95% CI: 0.21–3.26; P = 0.932). Coffee drinking was not significantly associated with depression (OR = 1.1, 95% CI: 0.50–2.62; P = 0.750), while infrequent drinking of red tea was significantly associated with depression among patients compared to controls (OR = 16.8, 95% CI: 6.14–45.73; P <0.001). On the other hand, no significant association was found between hours of sleep per day and depression (OR = 1.7, 95% CI: 0.71–3.87; P = 0.245). However, sedentary lifestyle was significantly associated with depression among psychiatric patients compared to controls (OR = 5.2, 95% CI: 2.15–12.7; P <0.001).

Conclusion: Drinking red tea and regular exercise may help reduce depression in psychiatric patients with de­pression. By encouraging the integration of red tea consumption and regular exercise into the daily routine of Yemeni patients with depression, healthcare providers can support the mental health and well-being of this pop­ulation.