Evaluation of the Specialized Clinic for Nutrition and Mental Health: A Pilot Study

Launched by MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF GRAZ · Jun 24, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This study is exploring how personalized nutrition care—focusing on diet and its effects—might help people with mental health and psychosomatic disorders (conditions where mental stress affects physical health). Taking place in Europe’s first outpatient clinic dedicated to this approach, the study wants to see if this special care can reduce stress, improve mental well-being, resilience (the ability to cope with challenges), and overall quality of life over one year. Researchers will also look at whether changes in diet and certain blood markers, like inflammation, are connected to these improvements.

People who are new patients at this clinic, aged 18 to 65, who speak German well enough and can use email to fill out online questionnaires, may be eligible to join. Participants will be asked to complete short online surveys every three months about their stress, symptoms, diet, and satisfaction with care. They will also give small blood samples during their regular clinic visits to check for health markers. The study is not yet recruiting, but it aims to understand if nutrition-focused care can support mental and physical health, potentially leading to larger future studies.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• * Inclusion Criteria:
• • New patient at the outpatient clinic for Nutrition and Psychosomatics
• • Age between 18 and 65 years
• • Sufficient German language skills
• • Provided written informed consent
• • Able and willing to complete online questionnaires via email
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Lack of consent or inability to provide informed consent
• • Diagnosed dementia (Mini-Mental State Exam \< 20)
• • Severe substance dependence (e.g., alcohol, benzodiazepines, opioids)
• • Serious physical, neurological, or motor impairments preventing questionnaire completion
• • No access to or ability to use email for online forms
• • Diagnosis of cancer, severe autoimmune disease, or immunosuppression