Healthy dietary indices and risk of depressive outcomes : a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

With depression being the psychiatric disorder incurring the largest societal costs in developed countries, there is a need to gather evidence on the role of nutrition in depression, to help develop recommendations and guide future psychiatric health care. The aim of this systematic review was to synthesize the link between diet quality, measured using a range of predefined indices, and depressive outcomes. Medline, Embase and PsychInfo were searched up to 31st May 2018 for studies that examined adherence to a healthy diet in relation to depressive symptoms or clinical depression. Where possible, estimates were pooled using random effect meta-analysis with stratification by observational study design and dietary score. A total of 20 longitudinal and 21 cross-sectional studies were included. These studies utilized an array of dietary measures, including: different measures of adherence to the Mediterranean diet, the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) and Alternative HEI (AHEI), the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, and the Dietary Inflammatory Index. The most compelling evidence was found for the Mediterranean diet and incident depression, with a combined relative risk estimate of highest vs. lowest adherence category from four longitudinal studies of 0.67 (95% CI 0.55-0.82). A lower Dietary Inflammatory Index was also associated with lower depression incidence in four longitudinal studies (relative risk 0.76; 95% CI: 0.63-0.92). There were fewer longitudinal studies using other indices, but they and cross-sectional evidence also suggest an inverse association between healthy diet and depression (e.g., relative risk 0.65; 95% CI 0.50-0.84 for HEI/AHEI). To conclude, adhering to a healthy diet, in particular a traditional Mediterranean diet, or avoiding a pro-inflammatory diet appears to confer some protection against depression in observational studies. This provides a reasonable evidence base to assess the role of dietary interventions to prevent depression.Peer reviewe

“The airport does what it wants to do anyways” – qualitative revisiting of the 4-factor model of fairness in the context of aviation research – first results of a focus group study

Annoyance due to aircraft noise is known to be highly impacted by non-acoustical factors such as attitudes, expectations and (mis-)trust towards the airport management. As exposure to noise is generally distributed unevenly, perceived fairness in the relationship between the airport and its residents is assumed to contribute to annoyance judgments. Perceived fairness has even been shown to alleviate the distress of the affected individual in other fields of research (e.g. organizational and justice psychology). However, research on fairness aspects in the context of aircraft noise exposure is scarce. In the framework of the EU-project ANIMA, focus groups with noise-affected residents were conducted around Cologne-Bonn Airport in order to identify relevant aspects of fairness evaluations. Transcripts of the discussions were produced and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The four-factor structure of fairness (i.e. distributive, procedural, informational, and interpersonal fairness) was brought to life with statements from residents. The relevanc e of specific factors, such as informational aspects like truthfulness and justification was analyzed based on residents`statements. Recommendations are made to focus on fairness, both for future studies investigating fairness in the context of noise research and airport management measures aimed at establishing a constructive relationship to aircraft noise affected residents

Short-term annoyance from nocturnal aircraft noise exposure: results of the NORAH and STRAIN sleep studies

Purpose The German Aerospace Center (DLR) investigated in the NORAH sleep study the association between a distinct change in nocturnal aircraft noise exposure due to the introduction of a night curfew (11:00 pm-5:00 am) at Frankfurt Airport and short-term annoyance reactions of residents in the surrounding community. Exposure-response curves were calculated by using random effects logistic regression to evaluate the aircraft noise-related parameters (1) number of overflights and (2) energy equivalent noise level LASeq for the prediction of short-term annoyance. Data of the NORAH sleep study were compared with the STRAIN sleep study which was conducted by DLR near Cologne-Bonn Airport in 2001/2002 (N=64), representing a steady-state/low-rate change. Methods The NORAH sleep study was based on questionnaire surveys with 187 residents living in the vicinity of Frankfurt Airport. Noise-induced short–term annoyance and related non-acoustical variables were assessed. Nocturnal aircraft noise exposure was measured inside the residents` home. Results A statistically significant rise in the portion of annoyed residents with increasing number of overflights was found. Similarly, the portion of annoyed subjects increased with rising LASeq. Importance of the frequency of fly-overs for the prediction of annoyance reactions was emphasized. The annoyance probability was significantly higher in the NORAH than in the STRAIN sleep study. Conclusions Results confirm the importance of both acoustical parameters for the prediction of short-term annoyance due to nocturnal aircraft noise. Quantitative annoyance models that were derived at steady-state/low-rate change airports cannot be directly applied to airports that underwent a distinct change in operational and noise exposure patterns