Diet therapy in the treatment of depression: integrative analysis of clinical trials

Abstract

Objective: to identify the available evidence on diet therapy as a therapeutic resource in the treatment of depression. Method: Integrative literature review operationalized in six stages: 1) theme and research question; 2) search and definition of criteria; 3) identification of studies; 4) categorization of studies; 5) analysis and discussion of results; and 6) presentation of the knowledge review. The Population, Interest, Context (PICo) strategy was used: “how does diet therapy help in the treatment of depression?". The search was carried out in the SciELO, PubMed and VHL databases. The investigation period covered the last ten years, thus selecting articles (randomized clinical trial) published from January 2012 to December 2021, with full text, abstract available, in Portuguese or English. Collection took place from July to September 2022. Results: The search in the VHL obtained five occurrences, and in PubMed, 533, among which, after analysis, 11 articles remained to compose the analysis. In SciELO, no records were found. Among the articles in the review corpus: adults were the predominant target audience, sizes of the samples ranged between 38 and 2 thousand individuals, studies that included other lifestyle factors and outcomes associated with quality of life were prevalent, as well as the comparison of traditional diets versus personalized proposals. Conclusion: The available evidence on the topic, although limited, it indicates the promising use of diet therapy by showing positive effects when used as an auxiliary resource in the treatment of depression.