Risk factors and prognosis of depression in Takayasu arteritis patients

Takayasu arteritis (TA) is associated with an increased risk of developing complicated comorbidities, which can bring both psychological and physical burdens to the patients.

TA is found to carry a high risk of developing depression. This research aimed to investigate the risk factors and prognosis of depression in TA patients.

A longitudinal observation cohort was conducted on TA patients with or without depression to explore the clinical characteristics.

In this cohort study, 90 TA patients were split into two groups with or without depression. Depression was evaluated by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) in TA patients. TA patients with depression were followed up for at least 3 months. We used multivariate logistic regression analysis to find the risk factors and Kaplan-Meier curve analysis to determine the prognosis.

We concluded 90 TA patients in this research, 29 of whom were in depression. Indian Takayasu's Arteritis Activity Score (ITAS2010) ⩾2 (odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval, CI) 26.664 (2.004-354.741), p = 0.013), interleukin-6 (IL-6) (OR (95% CI) 1.070 (1.022-1.121), p = 0.004), prednisone equivalents (OR (95% CI) 1.101 (1.030-1.177), p = 0.005), and carotidynia (OR (95% CI) 5.829 (1.142-29.751), p = 0.034) have been shown independent risk factors for depression in TA patients. We also identified the association between disease remission with the improvement of HADS-D score (Log-rank p = 0.005, hazard ratio (HR) 0.25) and depression (Log-rank p = 0.043, HR 0.28).

Aggressive treatment to achieve remission can promote improvement of depression in patients with TA. Screening for depression should also be performed in patients with elevated disease activity, IL-6, glucocorticoid use, and carotidynia.