Maryland Department of Health
Maternal and Child Health

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​Health Impact of Depression

Depression is associated with:

  • Smoking1
  • Alcohol dependence2
  • Substance use disorders2
  • Cardiovascular disease3,4
  • Diabetes5
  • Low bone density6,7
  • Asthma8
  • Migraine9
  • Irritable Bowel Syndrome10
  • Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)  infection11
  • Hypertension12
  • Stroke12
  • Obesity12
  • Alzheimer’s disease12
  • Cancer12
  • Intimate partner violence13,14
  • Mortality15
Risk of suicide:
  • in 2013, the suicide rate for Maryland women was 4.02 per 100,000, and the suicide rate for Maryland men was 15.27 per 100,00016
  • women between the ages of 45-54 are at the highest risk for suicide17
 
Figure 1. Female Suicide Rate by Age Group in Maryland between 2000 and 2010
 
  • suicide rates are higher in all age groups among men, and they increase with age – from 14.1 per 100,000 in the 15-24 year old age group all the way up to a peak of 38.4 per 100,000 in the 85+ year old age group17
​
 
References:
 
  1. Maryland Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. BRFSS – 2013 Results. Available at http://www.marylandbrfss.org/. Accessed on November 26, 2014.
  2. Grant BF, Stinson FS, Dawson DA, et al. Prevalence and co-occurrence of substance use disorders and independent mood and anxiety disorders: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2004 Aug; 61(8):807-16.
  3.  Nicholson A, Kuper H, Hemingway H. Depression as an aetiologic and prognostic factor in coronary heart disease: a meta-analysis of 6362 events among 146 538 participants in 54 observational studies. Eur Heart J 2006, 27:2763–2774.
  4. Shah AJ, Ghasemzadeh N, Zaragoza-Macias E, et al. Sex and age differences in the association of depression with obstructive coronary artery disease and adverse cardiovascular events. J Am Heart Assoc. 2014 Jun 18; 3(3):e000741.
  5. Mezuk B, Eaton WW, Albrecht S, Golden SH. Depression and type 2 diabetes over the lifespan: a meta-analysis. Diabetes Care 2008, 31:2383–2390.
  6. Wu Q, Magnus JH, Liu J, Bencaz AF, Hentz JG. Depression and low bone mineral density: a meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies. Osteoporos Int. 2009 Aug; 20(8):1309-20.
  7. Cizza G. Major depressive disorder is a risk factor for low bone mass, central obesity, and other medical conditions. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2011; 13(1):73-87.
  8. Trojan TD, Khan DA, Defina LF, et al. Asthma and depression: the Cooper Center Longitudinal Study. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2014 May; 112(5):432-6.
  9. Buse DC, Silberstein SD, Manack AN, Papapetropoulos S, Lipton RB. Psychiatric comorbidities of episodic and chronic migraine. J Neurol. 2013 Aug; 260(8):1960-9.
  10.  Whitehead WE, Palsson O, Jones KR. Systematic review of the comorbidity of irritable bowel syndrome with other disorders: what are the causes and implications? Gastroenterology. 2002 Apr; 122(4):1140-56.
  11. Colibazzi T, Hsu TT, Gilmer WS. Human immunodeficiency virus and depression in primary care: a clinical review. Prim Care Companion J Clin Psychiatry. 2006; 8(4):201-11.
  12. Penninx BW, Milaneschi Y, Lamers F, Vogelzangs N. Understanding the somatic consequences of depression: biological mechanisms and the role of depression symptom profile. BMC Med. 2013 May 15; 11:129.
  13. Lehrer JA, Buka S, Gortmaker S, Shrier LA. Depressive symptomatology as a predictor of exposure to intimate partner violence among US female adolescents and young adults. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2006 Mar; 160(3):270-6
  14. Bonomi AE, Anderson ML, Reid RJ, et al. Medical and psychosocial diagnoses in women with a history of intimate partner violence. Arch Intern Med. 2009 Oct 12; 169(18):1692-7.
  15. Cuijpers P, Vogelzangs N, Twisk J, et al. Differential mortality rates in major and subthreshold depression: a meta-analysis of studies that measured both. Br J Psychiatry 2013, 202:22–27.
  16. Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Vital Statistics Administration. Maryland Vital Statistics Annual Report 2013. Available at http://dhmh.maryland.gov/vsa/SitePages/reports.aspx. Accessed on December 10, 2014.
  17. Family Health Administration. Maryland Assessment Tool for Community Health. Available at http://www.matchstats.org/. Accessed on December 10, 2014.
 
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12/2014