Patients with multiple sclerosis are at increased risk of depression and anxiety diagnoses as well as antidepressant and anxiolytic drug use both before and after diagnosis, according to a matched cohort study of 5,084 patients and 24,771 controls from a nationwide sample.
Researchers used logistic regression to estimate odds ratios for pre- and post-MS diagnosis rates of depression and anxiety, and redemption of prescriptions for tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). They found:
|
| Pre-MS diagnosis | Post-MS diagnosis |
| Depression/anxiety diagnosis | 1.4 | 1.23 |
| TCAs | 1.9 | 6.70 |
| SSRIs | 1.34 | 2.41 |
Citation: Hoang H, Laursen B, Stenager EN, Stenager E. Psychiatric co-morbidity in multiple sclerosis: the risk of depression and anxiety before and after MS diagnosis. Mult Scler. 2015. pii:1352458515588973. [Epub ahead of print]