Association between atherogenic coefficient and depression in US adults: a cross-sectional study with data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005–2018

Objective The pathogenesis of depression is related to immune inflammatory response. Atherogenic coefficient (AC) is an important indicator of lipid abnormalities, which can lead to immune inflammatory responses. However, no study has investigated the relationship between AC and depression in adult Americans. Therefore, we investigated this relationship.Design This study used a cross-sectional design.Setting The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2005–2018) data were used for this study.Participants A total of 32 502 participants aged 20 years or older who had complete information for AC and depression were included in this study.Primary and secondary outcome measures Depressive symptoms were assessed using the nine-item version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), with a cut-off point of 9/10 indicating likely depression cases. Weighted logistic regression analyses and the smooth curve fittings were performed to explore the association between AC and depression.Results After adjusting for potential confounders, a single unit increase in AC was associated with a 3% increase in the prevalence of depression (HR=1.03, 95% CI=1.00 to 1.06, p=0.039). The relationship between AC and depression was more obvious in females.Conclusions The AC is positively associated with depression.