Again, a High Mortality with Depression and RA Save

Last week we reported on a Korean study showing a 66% elevated mortality risk in RA patients (n=38,487) with depression. This week, a new report shows depression in RA increases the mortality risk by more than 5 fold.

A DANBIO RA registry study examined RA patients between 2008 and 2018 and matched each RA with five random comparators. Participants were not treated with antidepressants or diagnosed with depression 3 in the  years prior.

The study compared 11 071 RA patients with 55 355 comparators; specifically, depressed patients with RA vs patients without depression, and found a much higher all cause mortality rate in RA patients with depression (adjusted HRR 5.34; 95% CI 3.02, 9.45) in the first 2 years and still elevated for the total follow-up period (adj. HR 3.15' 95% CI 2.62, 3.79). The risk was highest in patients <55 years (HRR 8.13; 95% CI 3.89, 17.02).

Depression imparted the same mortality risk in comparators as was seen in patients with RA.

The most frequent natural causes of death were cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke and pneumonia.

In patients with RA, depression was a predictor of death but at a level similar to that in matched comparators.