Predictors of depression in people with Ulcerative Colitis - Version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Prospective cohort study to identify causes of depression and how depression leads to relapse in people with Ulcerative Colitis
IRAS ID
228850
Contact name
Chris Dickens
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Exeter
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Depression is common among people with Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and is associated with worse health outcomes e.g. more physical symptoms, worse health-related quality of life and relapse in UC activity. It remains unclear which factors predict depression among people with UC, and how depression impacts on UC outcomes. Recent research indicates levels of inflammatory activity may influence who gets depression and may also determine physical health outcomes. The role of inflammation in explaining the links between depression and disease activity in people with UC has not been investigated.
Our study will investigate among people with UC:
(i) The main factors that predict the development of depression.
(ii) How depression predicts UC outcomes.We will recruit 250 patients with UC registered with the gastroenterology services at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. Paper and computerised assessments will be conducted over 12 months at 6 monthly intervals. We will collect details of the person, their medical condition, social circumstances and psychological well-being. Key clinical data will be extracted from medical records. We will conduct computerised assessments of the way individuals process emotionally important information (i.e. their emotional processing, such as how they perceive/remember emotions, how they respond to rewarding/threatening situations), which has been shown to determine the effects of inflammation on depression among healthy individuals. We will also collect blood samples to assess levels of inflammation.
Statistical techniques will identify:
(i) The most important predictors of depression in people with UC.
(ii) The extent to which depression predicts UC disease activity.
(iii) The roles of inflammation, emotional processing and other disease-related factors in contributing to depression.This research is important as it could help identify those at highest risk of depression and worse UC outcomes. Understanding the mechanisms leading to worse UC outcomes could provide new treatment targets to improve UC outcomes.
REC name
London - City & East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/1274
Date of REC Opinion
18 Jul 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion