Depression, Anxiety May Impact Health As Much As Smoking Or Obesity

New research discovers a person’s physical health, including heart disease, high blood pressure, back pain and arthritis, may be influenced by anxiety and depression on a level equal to the long-established risk factors of smoking or obesity. The incidence of cancer, however, was not found to be associated with mental health risk factors.

The findings by University of California San Francisco researchers suggest the increased importance of assessing anxiety and depression during annual physical exams.

In the study, first author Andrea Niles, Ph.D., and senior author Aoife O’Donovan, Ph.D., of the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and the San Francisco VA Medical Center, looked at the health data of more than 15,000 older adults over a four-year period. They found that 16 percent (2,225) suffered from high levels of anxiety and depression, 31 percent (4,737) were obese and 14 percent (2,125) were current smokers.

Study results appear in the journal Health Psychology.

Researchers discovered participants with high levels of anxiety and depression were found to face 65 percent increased odds for a heart condition, 64 percent for stroke, 50 percent for high blood pressure and 87 for arthritis, compared to those without anxiety and depression.

“These increased odds are similar to those of participants who are smokers or are obese,” said O’Donovan. “However, for arthritis, high anxiety and depression seem to confer higher risks than smoking and obesity.”

The incidence of cancer, however, was not directly associated with high levels of depression and anxiety. This finding confirms results from previous studies, but contradicts a common. .idea shared by many patients.

“Our findings are in line with a lot of other studies showing that psychological distress is not a strong predictor of many types of cancer,” O’Donovan said.

“On top of highlighting that mental health matters for a whole host of medical illnesses, it is important that we promote these null findings. We need to stop attributing cancer diagnoses to histories of stress, depression and anxiety.”

Niles and O’Donovan discovered that symptoms such as headache, stomach upset, back pain and shortness of breath increased exponentially in association with high stress and depression. Odds for headache, for example, were 161 percent higher in this group, compared with no increase among the participants who were obese and smokers.

“Anxiety and depression symptoms are strongly linked to poor physical health, yet these conditions continue to receive limited attention in primary care settings, compared to smoking and obesity,” Niles said.

“To our knowledge, this is the first study that directly compared anxiety and depression to obesity and smoking as prospective risk factors for disease onset in long-term studies.”

The results of the study underscore the “long-term costs of untreated depression and anxiety,” said O’Donovan. “They serve as a reminder that treating mental health conditions can save money for health systems.”

The two authors evaluated health data from a government study of 15,418 retirees, whose average age was 68. Depression and anxiety symptoms were assessed using data from participant interviews.

Participants were questioned about their current smoking status, while weight was self-reported or measured during in-person visits. Medical diagnoses and somatic symptoms were reported by participants.

Source: University of California San Francisco