Association between Obesity and Depression

Running head: OBESITY AND DEPRESSION
Obesity and Depression
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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OBESITY AND DEPRESSION
Critical appraisal refers to the systematic process of analysing any article to examine
its relevance, reliability and validity. In addition to this, critical appraisal will allow to find
out the strengths and limitations of articles ( Marcus, 2014). There are different type of
checklists for analysing different types of study.
Obesity is one of the major contributor global disease burden and this trend of obesity
is enhancing day by day (Seidell & Halberstadt, 2015). In addition to this, it is also reported
that, due to the increasing issue of obesity, the incidents of depression are also enhancing. In
various studies, the association of obesity and depression is identified in a well manner.
However, in multiple studies, it was reported that, there was a significant relationship among
the obesity and depression (Polanka et al., 2017).
According the study of Jokela et al. (2014) it was reported that, onset of depression is
positively promoted by condition of obesity among the subject population of this study. The
study of Lasserre et al. (2014), also reported that there is a significant positive relationship
among obesity and depression.
Research question
Can obesity promote depression?
Methodology
University databases were used to identify the related studies by using key words like
association of obesity and depression, onset of depression due to obesity, onset of depression
among high BMI population. Among all the identified articles, 3 articles were selected that
includes RCT, Cohort study and Cross-sectional study.
Strengths and Limitations

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OBESITY AND DEPRESSION
The primary strengths of the three chosen study is the large sample size and in three chosen
studies, different techniques are used to identify the relationship. However, in one study, the
authors failed to conclude any significant relationship among obesity and depression.
Statements Answers Comments Justification
Did the study address a
clearly focused question
/ issue?
Yes
The objective is to examine the
relation of obesity and mental health
that is depression and anxiety.
The study tries to
identify the
psychological changes
associated with the
obesity.
Is the research method
(study design)
appropriate for
answering the research
question?
Yes
This study aimed to examine the
output of psychological condition of
the patients who are suffering from
obesity.
Cross-sectional study
design examines
exposure and outcome
related to obesity and
depression.
Is the method of
selection of the subjects
(employees, teams,
divisions, organizations)
clearly described?
Yes The data of the sample population
were collected from the outpatient
obesity clinic and none of the subjects
were suffering from any systematic
illness. In addition to this, the subject
population were not addicted to drugs.
The selection process
is clearly mentioned in
the method section of
this study.
Could the way the
sample was obtained
introduce
(selection)bias?
Can’t
tell
All the patients were selected from an
outpatient clinic with a few exclusion
and inclusion criteria. The selected
sample size had a blood test after
having 12h fasting.
There is no conclusive
evidence or information
regarding the sample
selection process of this
study.
Was the sample of
subjects representative
with regard to the
population to which the
findings will be
referred?
Can’t
tell
The study participants belonged to the
different age group and they were
selected from the clinic without
examining the age group of the people.
There is no conclusive
evidence or information
regarding the
representative nature of
the study population.

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OBESITY AND DEPRESSION
Was the sample size
based on pre-study
considerations of
statistical power?
No This study is not based on any
previous study. The author conducted
this study as it was reported that
depression has become one of the
major problem of world and obesity is
highly correlated with depression. In
addition to this, researchers also found
that, anti-depressant drugs are mostly
prescribed to the patients of obesity.
Authors selected the
sample size randomly.
There was not any
references mentioned
regarding the sample
size of the study.
Was a satisfactory
response rate achieved?
Yes In the study, 253 females and 47 males
were recruited. Among the total
sample size, 249 people have a BMI of
> 30 kg/ m2 and 51 have a BMI of >
25 kg/m2.
All of the patient
collected patient’s data
were analyzed in this
study.
Are the measurements
(questionnaires) likely
to be valid and reliable?
Can’t
tell.
The body weight of the patients were
measured by using a digital meter and
the body height was measured by
using the fixed stadiometer. BMI was
measured and categorized by using the
WHO cut-off points for normal
weight. The waist circumference was
measured by using a flexible tape and
then waist –hip ratio was calculated.
For assessing the depression among
the selected subject population the
Beck depression–anxiety scale was
used and it comprised of 21 self-
reported questionnaires.
There is no conclusive
evidence regarding the
validity of the
collection method. Only
the guideline of WHO
was mentioned and
there was no other
information regarding
this.
Was the statistical
significance assessed?
Yes The BMI , waist circumference and
hip- waist ration is very relevant to the
obesity and on the other hand the use
of anxiety-depression measuring scale
also backed the findings of this study.
Statistical analysis was
executed by using the
SPSS program for
windows v. 17.00 and
the baseline data was
were expressed by