Arthritis prevalent in older adults with any degree of depression

Arthritis is highly prevalent in older adults with any degree of depression, results of a recent study suggest.

Doctor-diagnosed arthritis was reported by more than 50% of older adults with mild depression, according to results of the study, which was based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

The prevalence of arthritis exceeded 60% in participants with moderate depression, and approached 70% for those with severe depression, according to the study, published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Based on those findings, arthritis and depression need to be viewed as frequently co-occurring physical and psychosocial issues, reported Jessica M. Brooks, PhD, of the department of psychiatry at Dartmouth College, Lebanon, N.H., and her coauthors.

“It may be critical for mental health care providers to provide regular arthritis-related pain assessments and evidence‐based treatments for co‐occurring arthritis in older adults with or at risk for depression,” Dr. Brooks and her colleagues said in their report.

Their analysis was based on 2,483 women and 2,309 men aged 50 years and older (mean age, 64.5 years) who had participated in the NHANES survey between 2011 and 2014. Out of that sample, 2,094 participants (43.7%) said they had been told by a doctor that they had arthritis, the researchers said.

The rate of arthritis was 38.2% for participants with no depressive symptoms as indicated by a 0-4 score on the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). By comparison, rates of arthritis were 55.0%, 62.9%, and 67.8% for those with mild, moderate, or severe depression by PHQ-9.

Individuals with arthritis had a significantly higher mean PHQ-9 score, at 4.6, compared with 2.6 for those without arthritis (P less than .001), the investigators said.

Clinical depression was significantly associated with arthritis, with an odds ratio of 1.21 (95% confidence interval, 1.09-1.34) in a post hoc comparison model that controlled for age, gender, comorbid conditions, and other factors such as smoking history.

Establishing prevalence rates of arthritis in older adults with depression is an “important step” toward informing mental health professionals on the need to identify and treat arthritis-related pain, Dr. Brooks and her coauthors said.

“Addressing arthritis in mental health treatment and behavioral medicine may also help to reduce the overlapping cognitive, behavioral, and somatic symptoms in older adults with depressive symptoms and arthritis, which may be difficult for providers to disentangle through brief screening procedures and treat through conventional depression care,” they wrote.

The investigators cited several limitations. For example, the cross-sectional nature of the study makes it difficult to draw conclusions about causality. In addition, Dr. Brooks and her colleagues did not distinguish between different types of arthritis.

The researchers declared no conflicts of interest. The study was supported by several U.S. institutes, including the National Institute of Mental Health, and by numerous entities related to Dartmouth, including the Dartmouth Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research Center. The Howard and Phyllis Schwartz Philanthropic Fund also provided funding.

SOURCE: Brooks JM et al. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2018 Sep 19. doi: 10.1022/gps.4971.

Arthritis is highly prevalent in older adults with any degree of depression, results of a recent study suggest.

Doctor-diagnosed arthritis was reported by more than 50% of older adults with mild depression, according to results of the study, which was based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

The prevalence of arthritis exceeded 60% in participants with moderate depression, and approached 70% for those with severe depression, according to the study, published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Based on those findings, arthritis and depression need to be viewed as frequently co-occurring physical and psychosocial issues, reported Jessica M. Brooks, PhD, of the department of psychiatry at Dartmouth College, Lebanon, N.H., and her coauthors.

“It may be critical for mental health care providers to provide regular arthritis-related pain assessments and evidence‐based treatments for co‐occurring arthritis in older adults with or at risk for depression,” Dr. Brooks and her colleagues said in their report.

Their analysis was based on 2,483 women and 2,309 men aged 50 years and older (mean age, 64.5 years) who had participated in the NHANES survey between 2011 and 2014. Out of that sample, 2,094 participants (43.7%) said they had been told by a doctor that they had arthritis, the researchers said.

The rate of arthritis was 38.2% for participants with no depressive symptoms as indicated by a 0-4 score on the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). By comparison, rates of arthritis were 55.0%, 62.9%, and 67.8% for those with mild, moderate, or severe depression by PHQ-9.

Individuals with arthritis had a significantly higher mean PHQ-9 score, at 4.6, compared with 2.6 for those without arthritis (P less than .001), the investigators said.

Clinical depression was significantly associated with arthritis, with an odds ratio of 1.21 (95% confidence interval, 1.09-1.34) in a post hoc comparison model that controlled for age, gender, comorbid conditions, and other factors such as smoking history.

Establishing prevalence rates of arthritis in older adults with depression is an “important step” toward informing mental health professionals on the need to identify and treat arthritis-related pain, Dr. Brooks and her coauthors said.

“Addressing arthritis in mental health treatment and behavioral medicine may also help to reduce the overlapping cognitive, behavioral, and somatic symptoms in older adults with depressive symptoms and arthritis, which may be difficult for providers to disentangle through brief screening procedures and treat through conventional depression care,” they wrote.

The investigators cited several limitations. For example, the cross-sectional nature of the study makes it difficult to draw conclusions about causality. In addition, Dr. Brooks and her colleagues did not distinguish between different types of arthritis.

The researchers declared no conflicts of interest. The study was supported by several U.S. institutes, including the National Institute of Mental Health, and by numerous entities related to Dartmouth, including the Dartmouth Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research Center. The Howard and Phyllis Schwartz Philanthropic Fund also provided funding.

SOURCE: Brooks JM et al. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2018 Sep 19. doi: 10.1022/gps.4971.

Arthritis is highly prevalent in older adults with any degree of depression, results of a recent study suggest.

Doctor-diagnosed arthritis was reported by more than 50% of older adults with mild depression, according to results of the study, which was based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

The prevalence of arthritis exceeded 60% in participants with moderate depression, and approached 70% for those with severe depression, according to the study, published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Based on those findings, arthritis and depression need to be viewed as frequently co-occurring physical and psychosocial issues, reported Jessica M. Brooks, PhD, of the department of psychiatry at Dartmouth College, Lebanon, N.H., and her coauthors.

“It may be critical for mental health care providers to provide regular arthritis-related pain assessments and evidence‐based treatments for co‐occurring arthritis in older adults with or at risk for depression,” Dr. Brooks and her colleagues said in their report.

Their analysis was based on 2,483 women and 2,309 men aged 50 years and older (mean age, 64.5 years) who had participated in the NHANES survey between 2011 and 2014. Out of that sample, 2,094 participants (43.7%) said they had been told by a doctor that they had arthritis, the researchers said.

The rate of arthritis was 38.2% for participants with no depressive symptoms as indicated by a 0-4 score on the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). By comparison, rates of arthritis were 55.0%, 62.9%, and 67.8% for those with mild, moderate, or severe depression by PHQ-9.

Individuals with arthritis had a significantly higher mean PHQ-9 score, at 4.6, compared with 2.6 for those without arthritis (P less than .001), the investigators said.

Clinical depression was significantly associated with arthritis, with an odds ratio of 1.21 (95% confidence interval, 1.09-1.34) in a post hoc comparison model that controlled for age, gender, comorbid conditions, and other factors such as smoking history.

Establishing prevalence rates of arthritis in older adults with depression is an “important step” toward informing mental health professionals on the need to identify and treat arthritis-related pain, Dr. Brooks and her coauthors said.

“Addressing arthritis in mental health treatment and behavioral medicine may also help to reduce the overlapping cognitive, behavioral, and somatic symptoms in older adults with depressive symptoms and arthritis, which may be difficult for providers to disentangle through brief screening procedures and treat through conventional depression care,” they wrote.

The investigators cited several limitations. For example, the cross-sectional nature of the study makes it difficult to draw conclusions about causality. In addition, Dr. Brooks and her colleagues did not distinguish between different types of arthritis.

The researchers declared no conflicts of interest. The study was supported by several U.S. institutes, including the National Institute of Mental Health, and by numerous entities related to Dartmouth, including the Dartmouth Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research Center. The Howard and Phyllis Schwartz Philanthropic Fund also provided funding.

SOURCE: Brooks JM et al. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2018 Sep 19. doi: 10.1022/gps.4971.