Depression Worsens Any Chronic Condition

Robert W. Griffith, MD

The WHO World Health Survey has explored the influence of depression on overall health, in comparison with four other chronic diseases - angina, arthritis, asthma, and diabetes. The study, reported in the journal Lancet, used data from 60 countries and over 240,000 people over 18. The impact of conditions on health was derived from the answers to questions about people's ability to function in everyday situations, such as moving around, seeing things at a distance, and remembering information. Then there were questions about sleep, energy, and interpersonal activity. The relative 'health score' obtained ranged from 0 to 100.

People without any of the 4 chronic conditions had an average health score of about 90. Those with any of the 4 conditions had scores between 78.9 and 80.3. People with depression had an average health score of 72.9.

Depression often occurs in people with chronic health conditions, and one aim of the study was to measure the impact of coexisting depression. This was, indeed, considerable. Depression-plus-angina, -plus-arthritis, and -plus-asthma yielded scores between 65.4 and 67.1. But depression-plus-diabetes was linked to scores averaging 58.5.

These results emphasize the need for improved awareness of the possible development of depression in patients with chronic disorders, or its development in such patients. The likelihood is quite high: the prevalence of depression in angina patients was 15%, in arthritis 11%, in asthma 18%, and in diabetes 9%.

Source
HealthandAge Blog

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