Common mental disorders and mortality in the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study: comparing the General Health Questionnaire and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale

Hannah, M. K. , Batty, G. D. and Benzeval, M. (2013) Common mental disorders and mortality in the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study: comparing the General Health Questionnaire and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 67(7), pp. 558-563. (doi:10.1136/jech-2012-201927)

Abstract

Background While various measures of common mental disorders (CMD) have been found to be associated with mortality, a comparison of how different measures predict mortality may improve our understanding of the association. This paper compares how the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the 30-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30) predict all cause and cause-specific mortality.

Methods Data on 2547 men and women from two cohorts, aged approximately 39 and 55 years, from the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study who were followed up for mortality over an average of 18.9 (SD 5.0) years. Scores were calculated for HADS depression (HADS-D), HADS Anxiety (HADS-A) and GHQ-30. Cox Proportional Hazards Models were used to determine how each CMD measure predicted mortality.

Results After adjusting for serious physical illness, smoking, social class, alcohol, obesity, pulse rate and living alone, HRs (95% CI) per SD increase in score for all-cause mortality were: 1.15 (1.07 to 1.25) for HADS-D; 1.13 (1.04 to 1.23) for GHQ-30 and 1.05 (0.96 to 1.14) for HADS-A. After the same adjustments, cardiovascular disease mortality was also related to HADS-D (HR 1.24 (1.07 to 1.43)), to GHQ-30 (HR 1.24 (1.11 to 1.40)) and to HADS-A (HR 1.15 (1.01 to 1.32)); respiratory mortality to GHQ-30 (HR 1.33 (1.13 to 1.55)) and mortality from other causes, excluding injuries, to HADS-D (HR 1.28 (1.05 to 1.55)).

Conclusions There were associations between CMD and both all-cause and cause-specific mortality which were broadly similar for GHQ-30 and HADS-D and were still present after adjustment for important confounders and mediators.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Benzeval, Dr Michaela and Hannah, Mrs Mary-Kate and Batty, Dr G
• Authors: Hannah, M. K., Batty, G. D., and Benzeval, M.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > Institute of Health and Wellbeing > MRC/CSO Unit
• Journal Name: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
• ISSN: 0143-005X
• ISSN (Online): 1470-2738
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2012 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 67(7):558-563
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License