Depression and Anxiety: health inequalities in future risk for multimorbidity development and possible explanations
Supervisors:
Dr Bhautesh Jani, School of Health and Wellbeing
Prof Honghan Wu, School of Health and Wellbeing
Dr Frederick Ho, School of Health and Wellbeing
Summary:
Depression and anxiety are one of the most common long-term health conditions. There is some evidence that suffering from mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, may be a risk factor for development of physical health conditions. However, the exact nature of such relationships, if any, remains unknown.
We will examine the existing literature to understand the evidence for anxiety and depression as a risk factor for development of physical health conditions and the potential impact of sociodemographic factors in this relationship. We will then use one of the largest primary care datasets in the UK to study which physical health conditions often follow anxiety or depression and what are the corresponding odds. Finally, we will use a research cohort, with availability of rich genetic data and other biomarkers, to understand the possible biological pathways which could explain the relationship between anxiety/depression and physical health conditions development.
Anxiety and depression are very common and often among the first long-term conditions experienced by many adults. If we can better understand the role of these mental health conditions as a risk factor for development of future physical health conditions, and how this is influenced across different sociodemographic groups, this can potentially provide us an opportunity for risk mitigation of prevention in primary care.