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. 2022 Apr 4;8(2):00069-2022.
doi: 10.1183/23120541.00069-2022. eCollection 2022 Apr.

The interrelationship of chronic cough and depression: a prospective population-based study

Johnmary T Arinze  1   2 , Amy Hofman  3 , Emmely W de Roos  1   3 , Maria A J de Ridder  2 , Katia M C Verhamme  2   4 , Bruno Stricker  3 , Guy G Brusselle  1   3   5 , Annemarie I Luik  3   4
Affiliations

The interrelationship of chronic cough and depression: a prospective population-based study

Johnmary T Arinze et al. ERJ Open Res. .

Abstract

Background: Chronic cough is a debilitating medical condition that is often complicated by psychomorbidities such as depressive symptoms. Nevertheless, little is known about the impact of chronic cough on the risk of developing depression. Therefore, we investigated the association between chronic cough and prevalent, incident and recurrent depression in a population-based sample of middle-aged and older persons.

Methods: Within the Rotterdam Study, a population-based cohort, we defined chronic cough as reporting daily coughing for ⩾3 months. Depression was assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale, clinical interviews and medical records. Associations between chronic cough and depression were determined with linear, logistic and Cox regression analyses.

Results: The study included 5877 participants (mean±sd age 72±8 years, 59% female) who contributed 37 287 person-years of follow-up. At baseline, participants with chronic cough reported more depressive symptoms (adjusted standardised mean difference 0.15, 95% CI 0.07-0.22) compared to those without chronic cough. Over time, chronic cough was associated with an increased risk of depression in participants with a history of depression (hazard ratio (HR) 1.45, 95% CI 1.13-1.84), but not in those without a history of depression (HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.68-1.22).

Conclusions: Adults with chronic cough have a disproportionate burden of depressive symptoms and an increased risk of recurrent depression. This highlights the importance of screening for depression in patients with chronic cough.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: J.T. Arinze reports support for the present manuscript received from Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD), support for attending meetings and/or travel received from Lung Foundation Netherlands (Long Fonds), outside the submitted work. G.G. Brusselle reports support for the present manuscript received from MSD, and payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speaker bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events received from AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Chiesi, Sanofi and Teva, outside the submitted work. The remaining authors have nothing to disclose.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Strengthening the Reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology study flow chart (Rotterdam Study (RS)-I and RS-II).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Summary of risk of incident/recurrent depression among study participants. HR: hazard ratio.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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