Background: Patients with functional dyspepsia (FD) are more likely to have persistent depression, yet whether depression and antidepressant treatments are associated with subsequent risk of FD remain unclear.
Methods: Using population-based insurance administrative data of Taiwan, an 11-year historic cohort study was assembled, comparing cases aged 18 and above with the diagnosis of depressive disorder, to a propensity score-matched sample of adults without depression. Incident FD as a primary diagnosis was ascertained. Hazard ratios of FD were calculated using Cox regression models by age, gender, other comorbidities, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications, antidepressants and antidiabetic agents.
Results: A total of 20,197 people with depressive disorder and 20,197 propensity score-matched comparisons without depression were followed up. The incidence of FD was 1.7-fold greater in the depressive cohort than in comparisons (12.9 versus 7.57 per 1000 person-years), with an adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 2.16 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.93~2.41). Increased risks were significant regardless of comorbidities or medication uses, the highest in the untreated depression group compared to the group without depression, with an aHR of 2.51(95% CI 2.15~2.93).
Conclusions: This population-based study showed that patients with depressive disorder are at elevated risk of FD. Antidepressant treatment could reduce the risk of FD.
Keywords: antidepressant treatment; depressive disorders; functional dyspepsia; longitudinal study; propensity score matching.
© 2021 Stichting European Society for Clinical Investigation Journal Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.