Risk of depression in patients with uterine leiomyoma: A nationwide population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Population-based cohort study investigating the depression risk for patients with uterine leiomyoma (UL) is unavailable. This study investigated the subsequent risk of depression among patients with UL in an Asian population.

METHODS: Using data from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan, we established a cohort with 21,168 patients diagnosed with UL between 2000 and 2010, and a non-UL cohort of 82,108 women without UL matched by age and year of diagnosis. The occurrence of depression and Cox method measured adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) were monitored until the end of 2011. The depression risk altered by surgery was also evaluated.

RESULTS: The overall incidence of depression was 54% higher in the UL cohort than in the non-UL cohort (7.48 vs. 4.88/1000 person-years, p<0.001), with an aHR of 1.46 [95% confidence interval (CI)=1.36-1.57] for the UL cohort. The depression risk increased with age and with comorbidity in both cohorts. Surgical intervention reduced the depression incidence to 4.76/1000 person-years for women with UL, with an aHR of 0.64 (95% CI=0.51-0.81) compared with those without a surgical treatment.

CONCLUSION: The risk of depression is significantly higher in patients with UL than in those without UL. Surgical intervention for UL could significantly reduce the risk of depression. Evaluation of psychiatric status in patients with UL is strongly recommended.