Trial reportBMC medicine2025
The risk associated with ultra-processed food intake on depressive symptoms and mental health in older adults: a target trial emulation.
Trial report in BMC medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Neurobiological insights into the effects of ultra-processed food on lipid metabolism and associated mental health conditions: a scoping review.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Diet quality and depressive symptoms in older adults, assessing the effect modification by genetic predisposition and low-grade inflammation: a target trial emulation.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Anti-inflammatory diet and mental health outcomes in an aging population: evidence from a preventive population-based target trial emulation.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Ultra-processed foods and accelerated aging in adults: an emerging public health challenge for nutrition and functional health.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- Priority of nutrition and exercise in depression management: triangulating mini-review of past and recent evidence with clinical practice guidelines.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025Review
- Gut Microbiota and Autism: Unlocking Connections.Nutrients · 2025Review
- The Association between Ultra-Processed Foods and Depression, Anxiety and Sleep in Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study in Iran.Food science & nutrition · 2025Article
- Associations between negative emotions and eating behaviors in older adults: a network analysis and the mediating role of physical activity.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- U-shaped association between ultra-processed food intake and overactive bladder in US adults: a national cross-sectional study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLongitudinal cohort studies across the lifespan suggest an association between ultra-processed food (UPF) and depression. However, the effect of UPF on depression and mental health in older adults has not been determined. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of UPF on depressive symptoms and mental health in community-dwelling older adults.
methodsA pragmatic target trial was designed and emulated using the ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly longitudinal data. Participants were community-dwelling older adults (≥ 70 years) in Australia. We specified and emulated the protocol of a two-arm randomised pragmatic clinical trial using the level of UPF consumption as the intervention. Greater than or equal to 4 servings of UPF per day was considered the intervention, with less than 4 servings per day the control. Dietary consumption was assessed using a mail-based diet screening questionnaire, and the level of food processing was classified based on the NOVA classification. The study outcomes were depressive symptoms, defined as a score of ≥ 8 on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression 10-item scale, and general mental health, defined by the mental component summary score of the Short Form-12. We applied inverse probability treatment weighting to balance confounders. Marginal structural models were employed to estimate the population-level average effect of intervention using generalised estimated equations.
resultsA total of 11,192 participants (3415 intervention and 7777 control) were eligible for the emulation. High UPF consumption at time zero was associated with an increased risk of depressive symptoms at follow-ups (RR: 1.10; CI: 1.04-1.18). The finding was consistent with sensitivity analyses; after excluding participants on antidepressants at time zero, the risk of depressive symptoms in the intervention group was increased by 11% compared to the control (RR: 1.11; 95% CI: (1.04-1.20)). Consumption of UPF adversely affected the mental component quality of life (β: - 0.40; CI: - 0.65 to - 0.15).
conclusionsA higher level of UPF consumption was associated with a higher risk of depressive symptoms and adversely affected mental health among older adults.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.