Physical multimorbidity patterns and depressive symptoms: a nationwide cross-sectional study in Japan

The associations of physical multimorbidity with depressive symptoms have been investigated in a number of studies. However, whether patterns of chronic physical conditions have comparatively different associations with depressive symptoms remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the associations of physical multimorbidity patterns with depressive symptoms.

This study was designed as a nationwide cross-sectional survey in Japan.

General sample of the Japanese population.

Adult Japanese residents were selected by a quota sampling method. Data were analysed from 1788 residents who reported one or more chronic health conditions.

Among four physical multimorbidity patterns: cardiovascular-renal-metabolic (CRM), skeletal-articular-digestive (SAD), respiratory-dermal (RDE) and malignant-digestive-urologic (MDU), multivariable logistic regression analyses revealed that the RDE pattern showed the strongest association with depressive symptoms (aOR=1.68, 95% CI: 1.21 to 2.31 for the pattern score highest quartile, compared with the lowest quartile), followed by SAD and MDU patterns (aOR=1.41, 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.98 for the SAD pattern score highest quartile; 1.41, 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.96 for the MDU pattern score highest quartile, compared with the lowest quartile). In contrast, the CRM pattern score was not significantly associated with depressive symptoms (aOR=1.31, 95% CI: 0.90 to 1.89 for the pattern score highest quartile, compared with the lowest quartile).

Physical multimorbidity patterns have different associations with depressive symptoms. Among these patterns, patients with the RDE pattern may be at a higher risk for developing depressive symptoms. This study reinforces the evidence that cluster pattern of chronic health conditions is a useful measure for clinical management of multimorbidity as it is differently associated with mental health status, which is one of the crucial outcomes for multimorbid patients.