AFFECTIVE DISORDERS AND CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY CONDITIONS: ANALYSIS OF 1.5 MILLION ADULTS IN UK’S OUR FUTURE HEALTH

Chronic inflammation is associated with psychiatric disorders. If inflammation is linked mechanistically to mental health, people living with chronic inflammatory conditions may experience mental health issues at higher rates than others. To test this hypothesis, we analysed data from 1,563,155 adults in the new UK-wide Our Future Health research cohort. Participants were split between two groups: people with self-reported lifetime diagnoses of six autoimmune conditions (n=37,808) and those without these diagnoses (n=1,525,347). Lifetime prevalence of self-reported lifetime diagnoses of any affective disorder (depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety) was significantly higher (χ²=2975.58, p<0.001) among people with autoimmune conditions (28.8%) than in the general population (17.9%), with similar trends observed for individual affective disorders. Prevalence of current depressive symptoms (18.6% vs 10.5%) and current anxiety symptoms (19.9% vs 12.9%) measured using validated screening tools was also higher among people with autoimmune conditions. Odds of experiencing affective disorders, calculated using logistic regression models, were significantly higher in this group (OR (95% confidence interval) = 1.86 (1.82–1.90), p<0.001), and remained elevated when adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity (OR=1.75 (1.71–1.79), p<0.001) and additionally, for household income, parental history of affective disorders, chronic pain status and frequency of social interactions (OR=1.48 (1.44–1.52), p<0.001). Overall, the risk of mood and anxiety disorders among people living with chronic inflammatory conditions was nearly twice that of the general population. This large-scale analysis suggests that chronic inflammation may be linked to greater risk for mood and anxiety disorders. Future work will address potential causal mechanisms for these associations.