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Depression, anxiety linked to IBD recurrence
Clinical recurrence of inflammatory bowel disease is significantly associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety when the progression of depression and anxiety are considered over time.
“Patients with IBD should therefore be screened for clinically relevant levels of depression and anxiety and referred to psychologists or psychiatrists for further evaluation and treatment,” Antonina Mikocka-Walus, PhD, of the Department of Health Sciences, University of York, United Kingdom; School of Psychology, University of Adelaide, Australia; and Foundation Brocher, Geneva, Switzerland, and colleagues wrote.
The researchers analyzed a large cohort of patients from an IBD study conducted in Switzerland from 2006 to 2015. They used the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale to classify the symptoms of anxiety and depression in 2,007 total patients (56% Crohn’s disease; 48% men; median age, 40.5 years). Using survival-time techniques, the scores for depression and the scores for anxiety were examined for an association with the clinical recurrence of IBD in patients over time.
A significant association was found between depression and the clinical recurrence of IBD in three different patient groupings: all patients with IBD (P = .000001); patients with CD (P = .0007); and patients with ulcerative colitis (P = .005).
A significant association was also found between symptoms of anxiety and the recurrence of IBD in all patients, and patients with CD, but not in patients with UC (P = .0014, P = .031, and P = .066, respectively).
“We found that symptoms of depression are associated with clinical recurrence, with those depressed having a significantly shorter time to a clinical recurrence event,” the researchers wrote. “The link between depressive symptoms and clinical recurrence appears stronger in participants with CD, which has been previously reported in several much smaller studies. Our study’s results are consistent with the results of seven out of 12 previous prospective studies, offering, however, a significantly larger sample and the observations conducted from 2006 [until] 2015, and thus the longest to date.”
Disclosures: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.