Anxiety and depression in individuals with somatic health problems. The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT)

There is a high occurrence of depressive symptoms in patients with somatic health problems. About one-third of individuals with somatic health problems have anxiety disorders and/or depression. Comorbid anxiety disorder and depression are found to be more strongly associated with somatic health problems than pure anxiety disorder and pure depression. Objective - To examine the relationship between anxiety disorders and depression and various somatic health problems in the general population. Design - Cross-sectional study with survey methods and clinical examinations. Setting - The Health Study of Nord-Trøndelag, Norway (the HUNT study). Participants - 60 t 869 individuals aged 20-89 years. Main outcome measures - Anxiety disorder, depression and their comorbidity are categorized based on scores on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. All somatic health variables are self-reported, while blood pressure, height and weight are measured. Multivariate nominal logistic regression analyses are used to investigate the relationship between somatic variables and the anxiety/depression categories. Results - Most somatic health variables show a stronger association with comorbid anxiety disorder/depression than with anxiety disorder or depression alone. About one-third of individuals reporting somatic health problems also have anxiety disorder and/or depression. Conclusion - Somatic health problems carry a high risk of both anxiety disorder and depression. Active identification and treatment of these co-occurring mental disorders are of practical importance.