TY - JOUR T1 - The interrelationship of chronic cough and depression: a prospective population-based study JF - ERJ Open Research JO - erjor DO - 10.1183/23120541.00069-2022 VL - 8 IS - 2 SP - 00069-2022 AU - Johnmary T. Arinze AU - Amy Hofman AU - Emmely W. de Roos AU - Maria A.J. de Ridder AU - Katia M.C. Verhamme AU - Bruno Stricker AU - Guy G. Brusselle AU - Annemarie I. Luik Y1 - 2022/04/01 UR - http://openres.ersjournals.com/content/8/2/00069-2022.abstract N2 - Background Chronic cough is a debilitating medical condition that is often complicated by psychomorbidities such as depressive symptoms. Nevertheless, little is known about the impact of chronic cough on the risk of developing depression. Therefore, we investigated the association between chronic cough and prevalent, incident and recurrent depression in a population-based sample of middle-aged and older persons.Methods Within the Rotterdam Study, a population-based cohort, we defined chronic cough as reporting daily coughing for ⩾3 months. Depression was assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale, clinical interviews and medical records. Associations between chronic cough and depression were determined with linear, logistic and Cox regression analyses.Results The study included 5877 participants (mean±sd age 72±8 years, 59% female) who contributed 37 287 person-years of follow-up. At baseline, participants with chronic cough reported more depressive symptoms (adjusted standardised mean difference 0.15, 95% CI 0.07–0.22) compared to those without chronic cough. Over time, chronic cough was associated with an increased risk of depression in participants with a history of depression (hazard ratio (HR) 1.45, 95% CI 1.13–1.84), but not in those without a history of depression (HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.68–1.22).Conclusions Adults with chronic cough have a disproportionate burden of depressive symptoms and an increased risk of recurrent depression. This highlights the importance of screening for depression in patients with chronic cough.Adults with chronic cough have a disproportionate burden of depressive symptoms and are more likely to suffer recurrent depression, highlighting the need for screening for depression in individuals with chronic cough https://bit.ly/3sPvYTd ER -