Takeaway
- Depression and anxiety are more common in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) than those of the same age and sex who are unaffected.
- Healthcare utilisation and prescribing rates of psychotropic medications are also higher in patients with IBD.
- Coexisting mental health conditions are associated with additional healthcare use and time off work in patients with IBD.
Why this matters
- Findings suggest that evidence-based mental health interventions, including psychological treatments, may be of particular value to support people with IBD.
Study design
- This study included 19,011 patients with IBD (Crohn’s disease [CD], n=7557; ulcerative colitis [UC]; n=11,454) and 76,044 matched control participants using UK population-based primary care database.
- Prevalences of anxiety, depressive episodes and depressive disorder were assessed between 2016 and 2018.
- Funding: Pfizer.
Key results
- Mental health conditions were more prevalent in patients with CD vs control participants:
- depressive episodes (5.7% vs 4.1%; P<.001);
- depressive disorder (17.5% vs 12.9%; P<.001); and
- anxiety episodes (3.5% vs 3.0%; P=.02).
- Similarly, the prevalence was higher in patients with UC vs control participants:
- depressive episodes (4.4% vs 3.6%); and
- depressive disorder (14.2% vs 12.4%; P<.001 for both).
- Anxiety episodes were more prevalent in patients with UC, but the difference was not statistically significant (3.0% vs 2.7%; P=.07).
- Healthcare utilisation rates were higher in people with IBD vs control group (incidence rate ratio; 95% CI):
- primary care visits (1.47; 1.43-1.51);
- emergency secondary care visits (1.87; 1.79-1.95);
- fitness for work certificates (1.53; 1.44-1.62);
- antidepressant use (1.22; 1.13-1.32); and
- anxiolytic use (1.20; 1.01-1.41).
Limitations
- Study could not determine any causal associations.
This clinical summary originally appeared on Univadis, part of the Medscape Professional Network.
