Relative to White British patients, ethnic minority groups with unipolar depression had a significantly reduced risk of all-cause mortality, including Black Caribbean (HR 0.62), Black African (HR 0.53), and South Asian (HR 0.69) individuals.
Cohort (n=20,320)
Does mortality risk in individuals with unipolar depression vary by ethnicity?
While individuals with depression have an increased mortality risk compared to the general population, ethnic minority groups with depression demonstrate a significantly lower all-cause mortality risk relative to White British individuals with depression.
Effect estimate: HR 0.62 (95% CI 0.53-0.74)
Absolute Event Rate: 5.2% vs 14.2%
p-value: p=<0.0001
BACKGROUND: Depression is associated with increased mortality, however, little is known about its variation by ethnicity. METHODS: We conducted a cohort study of individuals with ICD-10 unipolar depression from secondary mental healthcare, from an ethnically diverse location in southeast London, followed for 8 years (2007-2014) linked to death certificates. Age- and sex- standardised mortality ratios (SMRs), with the population of England and Wales as a standard population were derived. Hazard ratios (HRs) for mortality were derived through multivariable regression procedures. RESULTS: Data from 20 320 individuals contributing 91 635 person-years at risk with 2366 deaths were used for analyses. SMR for all-cause mortality in depression was 2.55(95% CI 2.45-2.65), with similar trends by ethnicity. Within the cohort with unipolar depression, adjusted HR (aHRs) for all-cause mortality in ethnic minority groups relative to the White British group were 0.62(95% CI 0.53-0.74) (Black Caribbean), 0.53(95% CI 0.39-0.72) (Black African) and 0.69(95% CI 0.52-0.90) (South Asian). Male sex and alcohol/substance misuse were associated with an increased all-cause mortality risk aHR:1.94 (95% CI 1.68-2.24) and aHR:1.18 (95% CI 1.01-1.37) respectively, whereas comorbid anxiety was associated with a decreased risk aHR: 0.72(95% CI 0.58-0.89). Similar associations were noted for natural-cause mortality. Alcohol/substance misuse and male sex were associated with a near-doubling in unnatural-cause mortality risk, whereas Black Caribbean individuals with depression had a reduced unnatural-cause mortality risk, relative to White British people with depression. CONCLUSIONS: Although individuals with depression experience an increased mortality risk, marked heterogeneity exists by ethnicity. Research and practice should focus on addressing tractable causes underlying increased mortality in depression.
Das‐Munshi et al. (Wed,) conducted a cohort in Unipolar depression (n=20,320). Ethnic minority groups (e.g., Black Caribbean) vs. White British group was evaluated on All-cause mortality (HR 0.62, 95% CI 0.53-0.74, p=<0.0001). Relative to White British patients, ethnic minority groups with unipolar depression had a significantly reduced risk of all-cause mortality, including Black Caribbean (HR 0.62), Black African (HR 0.53), and South Asian (HR 0.69) individuals.