Depression, Anxiety, and Multiple Sclerosis

Patients with multiple sclerosis are at increased risk of depression and anxiety diagnoses as well as antidepressant and anxiolytic drug use both before and after diagnosis, according to a matched cohort study of 5,084 patients and 24,771 controls from a nationwide sample.

Researchers used logistic regression to estimate odds ratios for pre- and post-MS diagnosis rates of depression and anxiety, and redemption of prescriptions for tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). They found:

Citation: Hoang H, Laursen B, Stenager EN, Stenager E. Psychiatric co-morbidity in multiple sclerosis: the risk of depression and anxiety before and after MS diagnosis. Mult Scler. 2015. pii:1352458515588973. [Epub ahead of print]