Anxiety, Depression Prevalent in Patients Diagnosed With NMOSD

Patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disease (NMOSD) are likely to be diagnosed with anxiety or depression, with some patients receiving an anxiety/depression diagnosis prior to being diagnosed with NMOSD.

Using TriNetX, a global research network covering 68 hospitals in the United States, the researchers identified 1885 patients who met their inclusion criteria. The researchers queried the NMOSD diagnosis code to form a de-identified dataset. Diagnosis dates ranged from 1992 to 2022. Patients who had less than three NMOSD ICD-10-CM code entries were removed, and patients with NMOSD-related symptom ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes were included.

Of the total cohort, 788 (42.8%) of patients carried an anxiety and/or depression ICD-10-CM diagnosis code, 543 (28.81%) patients received a depression diagnosis, and 489 (25.94%) received an anxiety diagnosis. Further, of those patients diagnosed with depression, 317 (58.38%) were diagnosed before the confirmation of NMOSD. From the cohort of patients who received a diagnosis of anxiety, 295 (60.33%) received the diagnosis before their diagnosis of NMOSD.

“Depression and anxiety diagnoses are coded in approximately two-fifths of all NMOSD patients in the cohort; over half of whom were diagnosed with anxiety/depression before their NMOSD diagnosis,” the researchers concluded. “Given the complexities of the illness and its management, clinicians must be vigilant in remembering to query for depression and anxiety during patients visits.”

Reference:

Zeng E, Sorenson A, Smith T, et al. Depression and anxiety in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disease (NMOSD): analysis of a national dataset (P10-14.007). Neurology. 2024;102(17) Supp 1. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000206571