WEDNESDAY, Jan. 2, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Adults with cerebral palsy (CP) have an increased risk for depression and anxiety, according to a study published online Dec. 28 in JAMA Neurology.
Kimberley J. Smith, Ph.D., from University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, and colleagues assessed the risk for depression and anxiety in 1,705 adults (mean age, 33.3 years) with CP. The authors compared the patients with CP to an age-, sex-, and practice-matched reference group of 5,115 adults without CP using primary care data (January 1987 to November 2015).
The researchers found that individuals with CP had an increased risk for depression (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.28) and anxiety (aHR, 1.40) versus the matched control group. When adjusting for accompanying intellectual disability (363 adults with CP), only those individuals with CP without intellectual disability had a higher risk for incident depression (aHR, 1.44) and anxiety (aHR, 1.55) compared with matched controls.
“We need more research to determine why individuals with CP may have a higher risk of depression and anxiety so that we may develop the evidence base for mental health interventions in this population,” the authors write.
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