The Association Between Depression and Activity of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Authors:   Gastrointestinal & Liver Diseases Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran, Joukar Farahnaz , Asgharnezhad Mehrnaz ,   Gastrointestinal & Liver Diseases Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran, Faraji Niloofar ,   Gastrointestinal & Liver Diseases Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran, Zeinali Tahereh ,   Gastrointestinal & Liver Diseases Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran, Hojati Amineh ,   Gastrointestinal & Liver Diseases Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran, Maveddati Sara ,   Department of Medicine, Universita Degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy, Sepehrimanesh Masood ,   Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, United States, Isanazar Adeleh ,   Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Shafa Hospital, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran, Mansour-Ghanaei Alireza ,   Gastrointestinal & Liver Diseases Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran, Samadi Alireza ,   Gastrointestinal & Liver Diseases Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran, Mansour-Ghanaei Fariborz ,   Gastrointestinal & Liver Diseases Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
Published: June 2023

Background: The association between depression and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been reported worldwide. Objectives: We aimed to investigate the prevalence of active and inactive IBD depression and its associated risk factors among patients with depression and IBD. Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional study, demographic data and clinical characteristics of 156 IBD patients referred to Razi Hospital, Rasht City, Iran, were recorded from 2015 to 2016. The Beck depression inventory (BDI) was administered to all patients, and their scores were classified as no, mild, moderate, and severe depression. Modified Truelove and Witts severity index (MTWSI) for ulcerative colitis (UC) and Harvey Bradshaw severity index (HBSI) for Crohn’s disease (CD) were used to quantitate IBD activity as active UC (scored ≥10) and active CD (scored ≥7). Results: About 35.9% of the patients (n=56) had depression. Patients with active IBD had significantly higher BDI scores than those with inactive IBD (14.41±10.34 vs 10.14±10.28, respectively, P=0.011). Except for income (P=0.001), no significant associations were detected between IBD status and other background variables (P>0.05). No patients in either active or inactive IBD groups had cancers. Based on the severity of depression, the patients were grouped as follows: 64.1% had no depression, 30.1% had mild depression, 5.8% had moderate depression, and 0.0% had severe depression. However, significant positive associations were seen between an increase in depression severity and having autoimmune diseases, a lower education level, and a history of IBD-related surgeries. Conclusion: It seems that patients with active IBD are more depressed than inactive IBD patients.