| Title: | Healthy Lifestyle and Time to Depression Onset in Individuals With and Without Incident Stroke: A Longitudinal Analysis Using UK Biobank Data |
| Journal: | ALPHA PSYCHIATRY |
| Published: | 28 Jun 2026 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42416192/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.31083/ap49487 |
| URL: | https://storage.imrpress.com/IMR/2071196114372845600/application/2757-8038-27-3-49487.pdf |
Publication 20696
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Abstract
Background: Depression and stroke are leading causes of the global health burden. Adherence to a healthy lifestyle can reduce the risk of both conditions. However, the quantitative effect of a healthy lifestyle on the timing of depression onset remains unclear, as does whether the association between lifestyle and depression differs according to the occurrence of stroke. We therefore examined whether the association between a healthy lifestyle and depression differed between individuals who did and did not experience an incident stroke.</p>
Methods: Using data from the UK Biobank, we assessed the associations between lifestyle factors and time to depression using accelerated-failure-time models. Subgroup analyses were conducted to examine whether the association between lifestyle factors and time to depression differed according to the occurrence of incident stroke.</p>
Results: A total of 165,941 participants were included in the study. During follow-up, 5507 individuals developed depression, among whom 103 had previously developed stroke. Participants with 6-7 healthy lifestyle behaviors exhibited an 81% longer time to depression onset than did those with 0-2 healthy lifestyle behaviors after adjusting for covariates. Each one-point increase in the healthy lifestyle score (HLS) was associated with approximately 16.2% prolongation in time to depression. The association between HLS and time to depression onset was observed both in participants with and without incident stroke, although effect estimates were attenuated among those with incident stroke.</p>
Conclusions: The protective association between HLS and delayed depression onset was consistently observed in individuals both with and without incident stroke. Although the association was weaker among those who experienced stroke, lifestyle factors remained strongly associated with depression risk, underscoring the importance of lifestyle modification for mental health prevention irrespective of stroke status.</p>
2 Authors
- Chengguang Zou
- Guo Li
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