The investigation of the effects of Ramadan fasting on the mood state of healthy volunteer persons

Abstract

Introduction: The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of Ramadan fasting on human psychology among healthy volunteer people. Methods: In this cross-sectional type study, the universe of the research is composed of healthy volunteer people who registered at the Kayapınar Peyas family health centre in Diyarbakır and declared they planned to fast at the month of Ramadan in 2017. A questionnaire form including a sociodemographic questionnaire and Turkish version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-42) was formed. The online questionnaire technique was used to obtain the data via e-mail and smartphone. The study was conducted during the summer of 2017. The survey conducted to the same healthy volunteer group one weak before Ramadan (May 22-26) and at the end of Ramadan (June 21-25). SPSS 21.0 statistical package was used in the data analysis. The statistical analyses were considered significant if p<0.05. Results: 73 healthy volunteer subjects with no known health problems and who were not in the risk groups in terms of mental and physical health were included in the statistical evaluation. According to the DASS score, when the pre-Ramadan scores of the samples were compared to the post-Ramadan scores; depression (p=0.001), anxiety (p=0.01) and stress (p =0.002) scores were found to be lower at the end of Ramadan. When compared to the pre-Ramadan scores of the samples and the post-Ramadan scores; anxiety (p< 0.05) prevalence was found to be lower at the end of Ramadan. Conclusion: The results of the current study demonstrated that fasting in the month of Ramadan have been effective in diminishing stress, anxiety, and depression levels.

Fasting Interventions for Stress, Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Overall, 11 studies were included [17,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] (flow chart, Figure 1). Among the 1436 participants, 1009 subjects experienced Ramadan fasting, 239 received other fasting interventions (2 days/week (N = 28) or one day/week fasting (N = 22), 14 h restricted fasting with caloric restriction (N = 27) or caloric restriction without intermittent fasting (25% caloric restriction or 800 cal/day) (N = 162)).…”

“…Ramadan study (Figure 2) characteristics are presented in Table 1 and study quality in Supplementary Table S1. Overall, five studies (1009 participants) [19,22,23,26,28] were included in the Ramadan studies. Two studies were carried out in Iran [22,23], one in Germany [19], one in Turkey [26], and one in Kuwait [28].…”

“…Overall, five studies (1009 participants) [19,22,23,26,28] were included in the Ramadan studies. Two studies were carried out in Iran [22,23], one in Germany [19], one in Turkey [26], and one in Kuwait [28]. One study [22] was carried out in hospital nurses, one in a type II diabetes mellitus population [28], and the others in healthy volunteers [23].…”

Fasting may be an alternative treatment method recommended by physicians

“…There is increasing research that ties fasting to physical and mental health. For example, participated seventy-three healthy volunteers, in a recent study demonstrated that fasting in the month of Ramadan reduces stress, anxiety, and depression (35). In another study, no major effect was found on body composition, glucose homeostasis, or cognitive function (9).…”

Bir Üniversite Hastanesindeki Sağlık Çalışanlarında Ramazan Orucunun Ruh Sağlığı Üzerine Etkileri

“…3 Ancak literatürde Ramazan orucunun sağlıklı bireylerde psikiyatrik belirti düzeyine etkisi ile ilişkili çelişkili sonuçlar olduğu bildirilmektedir. 4 Ramazan orucu tutanlarda özellikle öğleden sonraki vakitlerde stres, kaygı ve öfk enin artmış olduğuna dikkat çekilmiştir. 5 Bazı çalışmalarda da Ramazan başlangıcı ile karşılaştırıldığında sonlarına doğru, depresif belirti ve stres seviyelerinde azalma gözlendiği bildirilmiştir.…”