Depression in young adults with chronic somatic illness – An analysis of 1970 British Cohort Study
Authors:   Department of Medical Psychology “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania, Mihailescu Alexandra I. ,   “Prof. Dr. Al. Obregia” Clinical Psychiatric Hospital, Bucharest, Romania, Matei Valentin P. ,   Department of Psychiatry, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania,   “Prof. Dr. Al. Obregia” Clinical Psychiatric Hospital, Bucharest, Romania, Diaconescu Liliana V. ,   Department of Medical Psychology “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania, Al-Bataineh Ruxandra ,   “Prof. Dr. Al. Obregia” Clinical Psychiatric Hospital, Bucharest, Romania, Purnichi Traian ,   “Prof. Dr. Al. Obregia” Clinical Psychiatric Hospital, Bucharest, Romania
Published: July 2023

The prevalence rate of depression occurring in people with somatic illnesses is 3 times more than people without somatic illnesses, but less research was conducted in this respect for people with early onset of somatic disease. Taking into account that the presence of depression in chronic patients aggravates the somatic disease, leading to a poor prognosis and higher rates of mortality it is important to detect and treat it. The purposes of our study are to analyze in a large cohort (BCS-70) the risk of depression in patients with somatic illness at early ages (less or equal 30 years). Methods. Data used in our paper were drawn from the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70). The design and conduct of this study have been described elsewhere (1). Data for the present paper are drawn from 30 years wave. The data were analyzed with descriptive function, chi-square and logistic regression. All analyses were performed using SPSS 16. Results. At age 30, we have found 1409 people (12.7%) with depression. From a total of 11211 people there are 860 people with hypertension (7.7%) and 109 people with diabetes (1%). There is an increased risk of depression in the case of people with „pure” hypertension or „pure” diabetes (p<0.05). In the case of people with both hypertension and diabetes, logistic regression showed that hypertension is a risk factor for depression irrespective of socio-economic status and diabetes (Exp(B)=1.970, CI=1.579-2.458, p=.001). Conclusion. The above data indicate that risk of depression is higher in people with onset before 30 years old of hypertension and/or diabetes. Our study did not identify an increased risk for depression by socio economic class. Data of our study clearly suggests that it is extremely important that young patients with somatic diseases like diabetes and/or hypertension should be aggressively screened and treated for depression. 1. Butler NR, Golding J, Howlett BC. From Birth to Five: A Study of the Health and Behaviour of a National Cohort. Oxford: Pergamon,1985. Bynner J, Butler N, Ferri E, et al. The design and conduct of the 1999–2000 surveys of the National Child Development Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study. UK Data Archive In: CLS Cohort Studies Working Paper 1. London: Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Institute of Education, University of London, 2000.