Abstract

In the United States, obesity rates are highest among African American and Hispanic populations. In Puerto Rico, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) reports that 65.6% of the population is overweight or obese. Research on the relationship between depression and obesity has yielded inconsistent findings. While some studies have found no significant association, more recent research suggests a positive correlation between obesity and depression.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between obesity phenotypes and depressive symptoms in patients admitted to Mayagüez Medical Center, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.

Methods: This study included a sample of 100 adults (48 females and 52 males) residing in Puerto Rico.

Results: Our data showed that women comprised 58% of the sample. The age group with the highest obesity rate was 60–69 years, accounting for 28% of cases. The most prevalent obesity phenotype was type 1 (68%), followed by type 2 (20%) and type 3 (12%). PHQ-9 results indicated that 46% of participants exhibited no depressive symptoms. The average PHQ-9 score was 7.7, suggesting that most participants experienced mild depressive symptoms.

Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that, regardless of PHQ-9 scores and BMI, the confidence interval included 0, meaning the null hypothesis could not be rejected. Therefore, no statistically significant relationship was found between obesity severity and depressive symptoms. Additionally, an ANOVA analysis showed no significant differences or associations between obesity phenotypes and depression severity as measured by the PHQ-9 questionnaire.