Health-Related Quality of Life and Medical Resource Use in Patients with Osteoporosis and Depression: A Cross-Sectional Analysis from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Abstract

Background: Patients with either osteoporosis or depression are prone to develop other diseases and require more medical resources than do the general population. However, there are no studies on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and medical resource use by osteoporosis patients with comorbid depression. We conducted this study for clarifying it. Methods: This cross-sectional study from 2005 to 2010 (6 years) analyzed 9776 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) patients > 40 years old. Each patient was assigned to one of four groups: osteoporosis-positive(+) and depression-positive(+) (O+/D+); O+/D−; O−/D+; O−/D−. We used multivariate linear and logistic regression model to analyze the HRQoL and medical resource use between groups. Results: The O+/D+ group reported more unhealthy days of physical health, more unhealthy days of mental health, and more inactive days during a specified 30 days. The adjusted odds ratios (AORs) of O+/D+ patients who had poor general health (7.40, 95% CI = 4.80–11.40), who needed healthcare (3.25, 95% CI = 2.12–5.00), and who had been hospitalized overnight (2.71, 95% CI = 1.89–3.90) were significantly highest. Conclusions: Low HRQoL was significantly more prevalent in D+/O+ patients. We found that depression severity more significantly affected HRQoL than did osteoporosis. However, both diseases significantly increased the risk of high medical resource use.