Mental health disorders in newly diagnosed non-functional pitutary adenoma under initial observation: an observational cohort study using the nationwide MarketScan database.

PURPOSE: Nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas account for 15-30% of pituitary tumors. Studies exploring the role of an intracranial tumor diagnosis, specifically nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas, on mental health disorders (MHDs) in patients have been limited. We characterize the incidence and factors affecting the development of MHDs in untreated pituitary adenomas.

METHODS: Utilizing a large-scale private payor database, MarketScan, we performed a retrospective study of patients with an untreated pituitary adenomas and corresponding MHD.

RESULTS: We found that in patients diagnosed with an untreated pituitary adenomas, approximately 15% were newly diagnosed with a MHD within 1 year of the pituitary adenoma diagnosis. Independent risk factors included female gender and substance abuse. Headaches, visual symptoms, and higher Charlson Co-morbidity indexes were also independently associated with a subsequent diagnosis of MHD. On multivariable analysis, patients in the pituitary tumor cohort were more likely to be diagnosed with a MHD than those in the matched cohort (aOR: 1.31, CI: 1.19-1.44).

CONCLUSION: By identifying risk factors, advanced screening can focus on non-operative pituitary adenoma patients at high-risk for the development of MHD.