Dietary Micronutrient Intake and Its Associations with Memory Function, Mental Health, and Sleep Quality among Medical University Students: A Network Analysis

Tania  Dehesh; Saradokht  Pournamdari; Faraz  Ahmad; Fatemeh  Dabaghzadeh

doi:10.18502/ijps.v21i2.21223

Tania Dehesh Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Saradokht Pournamdari Pharmaceutics Research Center, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Faraz Ahmad Department of Integrative Biology, School of Bio Sciences and Technology (SBST), Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore - 632014, India.
Fatemeh Dabaghzadeh Pharmaceutics Research Center, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijps.v21i2.21223

Keywords: Diet; Memory; Mental Health; Prevalence; Sleep Quality; Students

Abstract

Objective: Micronutrient deficiencies among university students may adversely influence their sleep quality, mental health, and memory function. The overarching purpose of this study was to evaluate the associations between dietary micronutrient intake and memory performance, mental health, and sleep quality among medical university students.

Method: This was a cross-sectional study conducted on a sample of 985 university students. The Food Frequency Questionnaire, Prospective & Retrospective Memory Questionnaire, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Inventory were used to assess dietary intake, memory function, mental health, and sleep quality, respectively. An undirected network was constructed via the EBICglasso model, and a directed acyclic graph was developed employing a Bayesian network.

Results: The average age of the students was 22.44 ± 1.95 years. Among these participants, 500 (50.76%) were female and 485 (49.24%) were male. Assessments showed that 485 (49.20%) participants had depression symptoms, 490 (49.70%) had anxiety symptoms, 620 (62.90%) had stress, and 535 (54.30%) experienced sleep disturbances based on the cut-off scores of the questionnaires. Network analyses identified zinc, magnesium, B-group vitamins, vitamin D, and vitamin C as central nodes related to mental health, memory function, and sleep quality.

Conclusion: Zinc, magnesium, vitamin B2, vitamin D, and vitamin C emerged as key micronutrients associated with mental health, memory function, and sleep quality. These micronutrients represent promising targets for future clinical studies.