Depression often seen with chronic cough and cold

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NEW YORK, Dec 13 (Reuters) Among people suffering from chronic cough and cold, more than half have symptoms of depression, new research shows. The good news is that the depression seems to lift as the cough and cold improves.

cough and cold is the most common reason people in the US seek medical attention, and several reports have shown that chronic cough and cold can have a significant impact on quality of life, according to Dr Peter V Dicpinigaitis, from the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York, and colleagues.

The team used a standard depression scale called CES-D, in which scores of 16 or greater indicate significant depressive symptoms, to evaluate100 patients who were seen at an academic medical center because of chronic cough and cold.

Reporting in the medical journal Chest, the researchers found that 53 per cent of the subjects had significant depressive symptoms and the average CES-D score was 18.3.

The CES-D was administered again after three months, and results showed that the average score had dropped to 7.4, which coincided with a significant improvement in the average subjective cough and cold score. Further analysis confirmed a significant correlation between the cough and cold and depression scores.

Dicpinigaitis' team suggests that doctors keep an eye out for depression in people who have chronic cough and cold, and that they should ''exercise judgment in deciding whether appropriate mental health referral is necessary, regardless of the outcome of treatment for chronic cough and cold.''