Korean J Fam Pract. 2018; 8(5): 662-668  https://doi.org/10.21215/kjfp.2018.8.5.662
The Relationship between Visceral Adipose Tissue Area and Depressive Symptoms in a Large Population of Korean Adults
Ye Ji Kim1, Arang Lee1, Oh Deog Kwon1, Seung Jae Kim1, Bumjo Oh2, Hee-Kyung Joh3, Ho Chun Choi4, Cheol Min Lee4, Seung-Won Oh4,*
1Department of Family Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine; 2Department of Family Medicine, SMGSNU Boramae Medical Center; 3Department of Family Medicine, Seoul National University Health Service Center, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine; 4Department of Family Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital Healthcare System Gangnam Center, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
Seung-Won Oh
Tel: +82-2-2112-5668, Fax: +82-2-2112-5635
E-mail: sw.oh@snu.ac.kr
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3800-0754
Received: July 6, 2017; Accepted: October 11, 2017; Published online: October 20, 2018.
© The Korean Academy of Family Medicine. All rights reserved.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background: Obesity is an established risk factor for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and mortality. Moreover, depression is the most common mental disorder and a worldwide disease burden. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between visceral fat and depressive symptoms using massive abdominal fat computed tomography (CT) data.
Methods: Subjects who had undergone abdominal fat CT and answered a mental health questionnaire (Beck Depression Inventory [BDI] 1-Korean version) at a health check-up between January 2007 and February 2015 were included in the study. The final study sample included 25,697 subjects. The mean BDI score was analyzed according to the visceral adipose tissue (VAT) quartile after adjustment for age, socioeconomic variables, and body mass index (BMI).
Results: Before adjustment for confounding variables, the BDI score of men was higher in the Q1 group than in the other groups. However, after adjustment for age and socioeconomic variables, this difference was reduced. When the BMI was further corrected, no significant difference was observed. In women, the BDI score was significantly lower in the Q1 group than in other groups before adjustment for confounding variables. Additionally, the BDI score was positively related to VAT. Similar to the effect in men, after adjustment for age and socioeconomic variables, significance disappeared.
Conclusion: In this study, there were no significant associations between visceral fat and depressive symptoms in either men or women after adjustment for age, socioeconomic variables, and BMI. Further studies of sex differences in the effect of visceral fat on the development of depression are needed.
Keywords: Abdominal Visceral Fat; Visceral Adipose Tissue; Intra-Abdominal Adipose Tissue; Depressive Symptoms; Depression
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