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Abstract:
Introduction:
The presence of two or more chronic disorders in the same patient or comorbidity, is increasingly common nowadays. Comorbidity between depression and physical disorders is variable and can lead to a worsening of the associated physical diseases. Our objective is to assess the prevalence of depression and comorbidity in patients with physical diseases and the possible associated risk factors.
Material and methods:
We included 2659 patients with comorbidities according to the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) who were also evaluated for the coexistence of hypertension, atrial fibrillation, anemia, depression, smoking and alcohol intake. In patients with reported depression, the most frequent associated comorbidities were studied.
Results:
Mean age was 73 years old (59.3% women), 11.6% were smokers and 11.3% referred alcohol intake. Mean CCI score was 3. Prevalence of depression reached 28.5%. The variables most frequently associated with depression were hypertension, anemia, atrial fibrillation, cerebrovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, heart failure, diabetes mellitus, dementia, liver disease, chronic kidney disease, COPD, thromboembolic disease, cancer, and peripheral vascular disease.
Conclusions:
Comorbidity is common in patients with depression. The high frequency of arterial hypertension, anemia, atrial fibrillation, ischemic heart disease, heart failure, diabetes mellitus and dementia is remarkable in our patients. On the other hand, patients with arterial hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, thromboembolic disease, COPD, liver disease, diabetes mellitus, hemiplegia, atrial fibrillation, and anemia have a higher risk for depression. Identifying these patients can be useful in the prevention and early diagnosis of patients with depression.
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