Prevalence of depression among children, adolescents, and adults with hidradenitis suppurativa

Background: Information on prevalence of depression among children, adolescents, and adults with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is limited.

Objective: To compare prevalence of depression in HS patients with that of controls.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of 38,140 adult and 1162 pediatric HS patients and controls identified using data from electronic health records. Primary outcome was prevalent depression.

Results: Prevalence of depression among adults with HS was 30.0% (95% Confidence interval [CI], 29.6-30.5), compared with 16.9% (95% CI, 16.7-17.1) among controls. Among children and adolescents with HS, prevalence of depression was 11.7% (95% CI, 10.0-13.7), compared with 4.1% (95% CI, 3.6-4.7) among controls. In adjusted analyses, adults and children/adolescents with HS had 1.26 (95% CI, 1.25-1.28; P < .001) and 1.42 (95% CI, 0.999-2.01; P = .051) times the odds of having depression relative to controls, respectively.

Limitations: We could not evaluate the influence of disease severity on the outcome.

Conclusion: Depression is prevalent among children, adolescents, and adults with HS. Periodic screening for depression may be warranted.