Depression is one of the most common diseases worldwide; a better understanding of the burden of this disease for patients and society is needed.
Prior studies have suggested that depression may increase the risk of infections, but evidence on this potential association remains limited, and prior studies were subject to some methodological limitations. We plan to use data from Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) GOLD to investigate whether patients with depression have more acute infections than patients without depression.
Depression has been associated with an increased risk of infections. However, evidence for this potential association remains scarce, and two prior studies were subject to limitations in terms of methodology and generalizability.
We will conduct a retrospective cohort study using CPRD GOLD and HES-APC data to evaluate the incidence of acute infections (respiratory, urogenital, gastrointestinal, and septicemia) in patients with depression compared to patients who a) have no history of depression or b) have been newly diagnosed with epilepsy (active control to minimize surveillance bias) and have no history of depression.
We will calculate incidence rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to quantify the risk of acute infections associated with a depression diagnosis, compared to patients without depression and to patients with epilepsy. We will control for several baseline covariates by weighting analyses on fine strata of the propensity score.
The number of recorded diagnoses of either of the following acute infections (Read codes recorded on separate days, in Appendix):
- Respiratory infections
- Urogenital infections
- Gastrointestinal infections
- Septicemia
Susan Jick - Chief Investigator - BCDSP - Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program
Noah Aebi - Corresponding Applicant - University of Basel
Christoph Meier - Collaborator - University of Basel
Julia Spoendlin - Collaborator - University of Basel
Undine Lang - Collaborator - University of Basel
Christoph Meier - Collaborator - University of Basel
Julia Spoendlin - Collaborator - University of Basel
HES Admitted Patient Care