Adults with a history of depression accumulate long-term physical conditions at a faster rate than those without, Scottish researchers have found.

An analysis of data from more than 170,000 UK adults aged 40 to 71 years showed that those with depression gained additional long-term illnesses around 30% faster.

At baseline those with depression already had an average of three physical conditions compared with an average of two in those without, the team from Edinburgh University reported in PLOS Medicine.

Over a seven-year follow up period, adults with a history of depression accrued an average of 0.2 additional physical conditions per year, while those without accrued 0.16.

In total the researchers looked at 69 physical conditions. The most common new conditions were osteoarthritis, hypertension and gastroesophageal reflux disease.

The faster rate of accrual remained after the researchers adjusted for sociodemographic factors that might influence the results.

Differences were lessened but still significant when researchers took into account social and lifestyle factors as well as the number of conditions someone had at baseline.

At the start of the study – which used data from participants in UK Biobank – 18% had been previously diagnosed with depression.

Healthcare systems are largely designed to treat individual conditions, instead of individual people with multiple conditions, and they especially struggle to treat people with both physical and mental health conditions, the researchers noted.

Study leader Kelly Fleetwood, a statistician at the University of Edinburgh, said the results suggest depression should be viewed as a ‘whole body’ condition, and integrated approaches should be used to manage mental and physical health.

Previous studies have also shown a link between mental and physical health but looked at a much smaller number of illnesses, she explained.

‘Middle aged and older adults with a history of depression have higher prevalence of physical health conditions at baseline, and have an increased rate of physical condition accrual subsequently.

‘The higher rate of accrual is partly driven by differences in modifiable risk factors like smoking, high BMI and low physical activity, meaning that there are potential opportunities for preventive care to improve future health.’

The researchers noted that when it comes to multimorbidity, individual needs do not always sit neatly with organisational boundaries, ‘and that is often most true when people have both physical and mental health problems’.

‘Better identification and management of depression in physical healthcare is needed, but mental health services also need to involve themselves in supporting their patients to maintain or improve their physical health, in relation to smoking, diet, obesity, and exercise, for example.’

This article first appeared on our sister publication Pulse.