A brief article at Medscape.com reviews a recently published article in the British Journal of Psychiatry that compared the risk for mortality for a variety of factors, but with a focus on depression, anxiety, and smoking. Quoting from the article:
|Depression is on a par with smoking when it comes to increasing |risks for mortality, although anxiety may counteract some of this |increased risk, according to a new study. | |"We were a bit surprised to find that depression - and not necessarily |at a severe level - is associated with mortality at the same strength as |smoking," lead author Arnstein Mykletun, PhD, from the University of |Bergen, Norway, told Medscape Psychiatry. "Perhaps one of the more |important new findings is that depression is that strong, even taking into |account a lot of potential confounding factors including health status," he |added. | |Whereas other studies have linked depression with mortality, Dr. Mykletun |said this study is more comprehensive and also is large enough to be able |to address all of these factors. | |The study is published in the August issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/707470?src=mpnews&spon=12&uac=35692AY (NOTE: you may have to register with medscape.com to access the rest of the article). The abstract for cited article follows: | The British Journal of Psychiatry (2009) 195: 118-125. |doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.108.054866 |© 2009 The Royal College of Psychiatrists | |Levels of anxiety and depression as predictors of mortality: the HUNT study |Arnstein Mykletun, PhD |Ottar Bjerkeset, MD, PhD |Simon Øverland, PhD |Martin Prince, MD, MRCPsych, PhD, Michael Dewey, PhD and Robert Stewart, MD PhD |Correspondence: Arnstein Mykletun, Mental Health Epidemiology, Research Centre of |Health Promotion, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Christiesgt 13 N-5015 Bergen, |Norway. Email: arnstein.mykle...@uib.no | |Declaration of interest: None. |Funding : R.S. is funded by NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health, the |South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, and the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London. | |Background |Depression is reported to be associated with increased mortality, although underlying |mechanisms are uncertain. Associations between anxiety and mortality are also uncertain. | |Aims |To investigate associations between individual and combined anxiety/depression symptom |loads (using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)) and mortality over a 3-6 |year period. | |Method |We utilised a unique link between a large population survey (HUNT-2, n = 61 349) and a |comprehensive mortality database. | |Results |Case-level depression was associated with increased mortality (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.52, |95% CI 1.35-1.72) comparable with that of smoking (HR = 1.59, 95% CI 1.44-1.75), |and which was only partly explained by somatic symptoms/conditions. Anxiety comorbid |with depression lowered mortality compared with depression alone (anxiety depression |interaction P = 0.017). The association between anxiety symptom load and mortality was |U-shaped. | |Conclusions |Depression as a risk factor for mortality was comparable in strength to smoking. Comorbid |anxiety reduced mortality compared with depression alone. The relationship between anxiety |symptoms and mortality was more complex with a U-shape and highest mortality in those |with the lowest anxiety symptom loads. -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu P.S. For those of you with access to the British Journal of Psychiatry, you might want to to look at an article by Harmer et al in the same issue. The full ref is: Harmer, Catherine J., Goodwin, Guy M., Cowen, Philip J. Why do antidepressants take so long to work? A cognitive neuropsychological model of antidepressant drug action The British Journal of Psychiatry 2009 195: 102-108 --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
