Authors (including presenting author) :
Kwok CY(1), Sip YL(1), Wong HT(1), Tai YS(1), Wong TL(1),Fung KM(1), Hung YY(1), Lam HY (1)
Affiliation :
(1) Department of Psychiatry, Tai Po Hospital
Introduction :
It is common for patients with mood disorders to have unhealthy diet, such as craving for high sugar & fatty food, or loss of appetite (Roger, 2019). However poor diet can be both a cause and effect to depression (Smith 2018). Recent evidence showing that gut microbiome has influence to the development of mental illness (Marcel & Woten 2018). With reference to a randomized control study by Jacka, et.al. (2017), 67 out of 122 adults with mixed depressive disorder have significant symptoms improvement after diet improvement programme. A programme on “Healthy Gut Healthy Mind” was conducted in Community Psychiatric Service of Tai Po Hospital (TPH CPS). The aim is to empower patients to improve mood symptoms by adopting gut health diet.
Objectives :
(1)Decrease the consumption of high fat/sugar diet that adversely affect mental health due to gut inflammation
(2)Enhance knowledge related to gut health diet
(3)Promote mental health well-being by easing mood symptoms from adopting gut health diet
Methodology :
4 sessions of psychoeducational programme on gut health diet were conveyed to clients who were diagnosed with mood disorder with anxiety or depressive symptoms. The target population was recruited from TPH CPS. The programme focuses on educating clients the relationship between mental health and gut health, nutrients contributed to gut health, and adopting healthy gut diet. Inclusion criteria of subjects were (1) age 18 to 65, (2) Diagnosed Mood Disorders, (3) Able to read Chinese or English. Exclusion criteria of subjects were (1) Age <18 and >65, (2) Illiterate (3) Diagnosed Bipolar Mood Disorder. Pre-and Post- assessment on client’s eating habit, anxiety level and depressive symptoms were collected by using Yale Food Addiction Scale, General Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) respectively.
Result & Outcome :
Total 12 subjects were recruited. 9 subjects were female and 3 were male. 1 female subject was dropped-out due to traveling back to mainland. The scores of GAD-7 (pre-test mean score: 9.09; post-test mean score: 6.36) and PHQ-9 (pre-test mean score 8.91; post-test mean score 6.73) showed significant reduction and the score of YFAS (pre-test mean score:3.82; post-test mean score: 2.73) showed also reduction among 11 subjects. The 4 sessions of three months programme showed gut-health diet programme can effectively reduce the level of anxiety and depression symptom. Continuous application in community or hospital setting is recommended.
