Bidirectional relations between depression symptoms and chronic kidney disease

Metabolic dysfunction, rather than obesity, is a risk factor for chronic kidney disease in Chinese population

BACKGROUND

Metabolic dysfunction and obesity are closely related to chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, studies on the relationship between various metabolic syndrome-body mass index (MetS-BMI) phenotypes and the risk of CKD in the Chinese population have not yet been explored.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2015 were analyzed in this study. This study enrolled 12,054 participants. Participants were divided into six distinct groups according to their MetS-BMI status. Across the different MetS-BMI groups, the odd ratios (ORs) for CKD were determined using multivariable logistic regression models.

RESULTS

The prevalence of CKD was higher in metabolically unhealthy groups than in the corresponding healthy groups. Moreover, the fully adjusted model showed that all metabolically unhealthy individuals had an increased risk of developing CKD compared to the metabolically healthy normal weight group (OR = 1.62, p = 0.002 for the metabolically unhealthy normal weight group; OR = 1.55, p < 0.001 for the metabolically unhealthy overweight group; and OR = 1.77, p < 0.001 for the metabolically unhealthy obesity group.

CONCLUSIONS

This study is the first to evaluate the relationship between the MetS-BMI phenotype and renal prognosis in the Chinese population. Individuals with normal weights are at different risk of developing CKD depending on their different metabolic phenotypes.

The Mediating Effect of Symptom Burden in the Depression and Quality of Life in Patients with Maintenance Hemodialysis

Objective

To investigate current status of quality of life and the association between depression and symptom burden in a sample of Chinese maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients.

Methods

A self-designed patient general information questionnaire, disease-related information questionnaire, dialysis patient symptom burden scale, depression scale, and quality of survival scale were used to investigate 380 maintenance haemodialysis patients in haemodialysis centres. A regression model of the factors affecting the quality of survival was established using structural equation modelling.

Results

The regression model data had a high goodness of fit: c2/df = 4.736, RMSEA = 0.099, GFI = 0.918, CFI = 0.972, TLI = 0.962, SRMR = 0.0469. Structural equation model analysis showed that depression had a positive predictive effect on symptom burden, β = 0.398, P < 0.001; Symptom burden had a negative predictive effect on the quality of life, β =-0.851, P < 0.001; and Depression had a negative predictive effect on the quality of life, β =-0.151, P < 0.001. Depression indirectly affects the quality of life through symptom burdens.

Conclusion

Depression and symptom burden directly or indirectly affect the quality of life in patients with maintenance hemodialysis. Symptom burden moderates the relationship between depression and quality of life as a mediating variable.

Mapping the global research landscape on depression for patients with chronic kidney disease: a bibliometric and visualized analysis from 2006 to 2022

Background

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), a complex and multifaceted health issue, significantly contributes to global mortality rates. Accompanying chronic conditions, depression notably exacerbates health outcomes, increasing both mortality risk and the burden on affected individuals. This study employs bibliometric and visual analytics to evaluate the evolution, current trends, and future research directions in the field of CKD and depression.

Methods

We conducted a thorough investigation using the Web of Science Core Collection, focusing on literature published from 2006 to 2022 that examines the interplay between CKD and depression. The analysis was enriched with bibliometric and visualization tools such as bibliometrix, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer to distill the essence of the research corpus.

Results

Our analysis incorporated 2,409 CKD-related publications, with significant contributions from the United States, China, and England. BMC Nephrology emerged as the leading publication outlet, while the American Journal of Kidney Diseases featured the most cited articles. Key terms such as "depression," "quality-of-life," "mortality," "prevalence," and "hemodialysis" dominated the keyword landscape, indicating the research focus areas.

Conclusion

This bibliometric analysis offers an in-depth view of the research trajectory in CKD and depression. It provides valuable insights for researchers seeking relevant literature, potential collaborators, and an understanding of the field's current hotspots and emerging frontiers. The findings of this study are instrumental in guiding and enriching future research endeavors in this domain.

Factor Structures in the Depressive Symptoms Domains in the 9Q for Northern Thai Adults and Their Association with Chronic Diseases

Most of the common models to examine depression are one-factor models; however, previous studies provided several-factor structure models on each depressive symptom using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). The Nine-Questions Depression-Rating Scale (9Q) is an alternative assessment tool that was developed for assessing the severity of depressive symptoms in Thai adults. This study aimed to examine the factor structure of this tool based on the factor structure models for the PHQ-9 provided in previous studies using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). We also examined the association of chronic diseases and depressive symptoms using the Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes model among 1346 participants aged 19 years old or more without psychiatric disorders. The results show that the two-factor CFA model with six items in the cognitive-affective domain and three items in the somatic domain provided the best fit for depressive symptoms in the study population (RMSEA = 0.077, CFI = 0.953, TLI = 0.936). Dyslipidemia was positively associated with both cognitive-affective symptoms (β = 0.120) and somatic depressive symptoms (β = 0.080). Allergies were associated with a higher level of cognitive-affective depressive symptoms (β = 0.087), while migraine (β = 0.114) and peptic ulcer disease (β = 0.062) were associated with a higher level of somatic symptoms. Increased age was associated with a lower level of somatic symptoms (β = -0.088). Our findings suggested that considering depressive symptoms as two dimensions yields a better fit for depressive symptoms. The co-occurrence of chronic diseases associated with depressive symptoms should be monitored.

Functional gastrointestinal disorders, mental health, genetic susceptibility, and incident chronic kidney disease

BACKGROUND

Whether functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are associated with the long-term risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the prospective association of FGIDs with CKD and examine whether mental health mediated the association.

METHODS

About 416,258 participants without a prior CKD diagnosis enrolled in the UK Biobank between 2006 and 2010 were included. Participants with FGIDs (including irritable bowel syndrome [IBS], dyspepsia, and other functional intestinal disorders [FIDs; mainly composed of constipation]) were the exposure group, and non-FGID participants were the non-exposure group. The primary outcome was incident CKD, ascertained from hospital admission and death registry records. A Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to investigate the association between FGIDs and CKD, and the mediation analysis was performed to investigate the mediation proportions of mental health.

RESULTS

At baseline, 33,156 (8.0%) participants were diagnosed with FGIDs, including 21,060 (5.1%), 8262 (2.0%), and 6437 (1.6%) cases of IBS, dyspepsia, and other FIDs, respectively. During a mean follow-up period of 12.1 years, 11,001 (2.6%) participants developed CKD. FGIDs were significantly associated with a higher risk of incident CKD compared to the absence of FGIDs (hazard ratio [HR], 1.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.28-1.44). Similar results were observed for IBS (HR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.17-1.38), dyspepsia (HR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.17-1.44), and other FIDs (HR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.43-1.79). Mediation analyses suggested that the mental health score significantly mediated 9.05% of the association of FGIDs with incident CKD and 5.63-13.97% of the associations of FGID subtypes with CKD. Specifically, the positive associations of FGIDs and FGID subtypes with CKD were more pronounced in participants with a high genetic risk of CKD.

CONCLUSION

Participants with FGIDs had a higher risk of incident CKD, which was partly explained by mental health scores and was more pronounced in those with high genetic susceptibility to CKD.

Circadian syndrome is associated with the development of chronic kidney disease and rapid decline in kidney function in middle-aged and elder adults: a China nationwide cohort study

PURPOSE

The correlation between circadian syndrome (CircS) and kidney outcomes is currently supported by limited empirical evidence. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the potential relationship between CircS and the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD), as well as the rapid decline in renal function.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We utilized data from the 2011 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), which involved 6002 Chinese adults ≥40 years of age. Among these participants, 3670 subsequently had follow-up evaluations in the 2015 survey. The primary outcome was the development of CKD, as defined by an estimated glomerular filtration rates decrease to a level <60 ml/min/1.73 m2, while the secondary outcome was rapid decline in renal function, as defined by an estimated glomerular filtration rates decrease of >5 ml/min/1.73 m2 per year. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was utilized to determine the association between CircS and kidney outcomes.

RESULTS

Compared to participants without CircS, those with CircS had a higher risk of CKD in the cross-sectional studies conducted in 2011 (OR, 1.292; 95% CI, 1.053-1.585) and 2015 (OR, 1.860; 95% CI, 1.469-2.355). Participants with CircS in the longitudinal cohort study had a higher risk of progressing to CKD (OR, 3.050; 95% CI, 2.052-4.534) and a rapid decline in renal function (OR, 1.959; 95% CI, 1.433-2.677) after 4 years of follow-up evaluations and adjustment for covariates. Moreover, participants who had CircS with ≥6 CirS components had the highest risk of a rapid decline in renal function (OR, 1.703; 95% CI, 1.054-2.753).

CONCLUSION

CirS significantly increased the risk of CKD progression and rapid decline in renal function among middle-aged and elder individuals. Our study findings highlights the importance of recognizing and managing CirC as a preventative strategy for CKD.

Maternal exposure of mice to glyphosate induces depression- and anxiety-like behavior in the offspring via alterations of the gut-brain axis

The past decade has been characterized by increased awareness and de-stigmatization of mental health issues, in particular the most common neuropsychiatric disorders depression and anxiety. Further, with growing understanding of neurodevelopmental disorders such as attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder, the number of diagnosed patients has increased. The pathogenesis of these behavioral disorders is multifactorial and early-life exposure to environmental chemicals has been proposed to be a relevant risk factor that might mediate these effects by disturbances on the gut-brain-axis. However, for glyphosate, the most widely used pesticide worldwide, there are only limited and inconsistent findings that link chronic low-dose exposure in particular during early life to neurobehavioral disorders. Here, we explored the impact of maternal oral glyphosate exposure (0.5 and 50 mg/kg body weight/day) during pregnancy and the lactational period on offspring's behavior, brain gene expression and gut microbiota using a cross-generational mouse model. Behavioral analyses revealed a depression- and anxiety-like behavior as well as social deficits most notably in adult female offspring of glyphosate-exposed dams. Furthermore, the expression of tryptophan hydroxylase 2, an enzyme discussed to be linked to behavioral problems, was reduced in the hippocampus of female offspring and correlated to a glyphosate-induced DNA hypermethylation of the gene. Moreover, maternal glyphosate exposure significantly altered the gut microbiota in the female offspring including a decreased abundance of Akkermansia and increased abundance of Alistipes and Blautia, bacteria involved in tryptophan metabolism and associated with depression- and anxiety-like disorders. Our results suggest that glyphosate might influence the gut-brain axis crosstalk following in-utero and lactational exposure. This study underlines the importance of understanding the impact of exposure to pesticides on the gut-brain axis and further emphasizes the need for microbiome analyses to be compulsorily included in health risk assessments of pesticides.

Depressive symptoms and sleep duration in relation to chronic kidney disease: Evidence from the China health and retirement longitudinal study

OBJECTIVE

Nowadays, the joint effects of depressive symptoms and sleep duration on the risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) are still unclear. We aimed to prospectively assess the combined effect of depressive symptoms and sleep duration on the incidence of CKD in middle-aged and elderly Chinese population.

METHODS

A total of 10,953 participants from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) were included. Depressive symptoms were measured using the 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (CESD-10). Sleep duration was evaluated by self-reported. CKD events were based on self-reported physicians' diagnosis or personal estimate glomerular filtration rate level (eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m2). Cox regression models were established to analyze the correlation between depressive symptoms, sleep duration and the risk of CKD.

RESULTS

Over a mean follow-up time was 6.76 ± 0.98 years, 851 (7.8%) participants had reported CKD events during the follow-up. Elevated depressive symptoms (HR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.43-1.90) and short sleep duration (HR = 1.48, 95% CI = 1.27-1.72) were independently associated with an increased CKD risk after adjusting for potential confounding factors. Participants with short sleep duration (< 6 h)/elevated depressive symptoms (HR = 2.24, 95% CI = 1.89-2.65) were associated with the highest risk of CKD than those with normal sleep duration/low depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

Elevated depressive symptoms and short sleep duration were independent risk factors for CKD. There was a combined effect between depressive symptoms and sleep duration in increasing the risk of CKD.

Mother-Father Relationship and Depressive Symptoms Among Pregnant Black Women

BACKGROUND

Black women report higher levels of depressive symptoms during pregnancy than white women. A supportive relationship with the father of the baby may be protective and decrease depressive symptoms.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to examine the association between mother-father relationship and depressive symptoms among pregnant black women.

METHODS

Using a cross-sectional design, we conducted a secondary data analysis from a subsample of 405 pregnant black women who participated in the Biosocial Impact on Black Births study, a prospective cohort study. Participants completed questionnaires at 19- to 29-week gestation, including 6 measures of their relationship with the father of the baby: (1) contact, (2) involvement, (3) overall relationship, (4) change in relationship from prior to pregnancy to during pregnancy, (5) support, and (6) conflict. Latent class analysis was used to identify and classify the relationship construct. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale was used, with scores ≥23 considered high levels of depressive symptoms. Data were analyzed with logistic regression.

RESULTS

Following adjustment for maternal sociodemographic characteristics, comorbid conditions, and health behaviors, women in a conflictual relationship had higher odds of having depressive symptom scores ≥23 (adjusted odds ratio: 3.50, 95% confidence interval: 2.00, 6.12) than those having no relationship (adjusted odds ratio: 2.81, 95% confidence interval: 1.43, 5.52), when compared with those with a good relationship.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that having either a conflictual or no relationship with the father of the baby during pregnancy increases the odds for higher maternal depressive symptoms (CES-D scores ≥ 23) among pregnant black women.

The relationship between neutrophil lymphocyte ratio, platelet lymphocyte ratio, and depression in dialysis patients

Chronic kidney disease is a worldwide public health issue with rising incidence, morbidity/mortality, and cost. Depression and chronic renal disease often coexist, and psychological illnesses are associated with poor results. Early identification of depression reduces morbidity and death. Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are reported as practical biomarkers of inflammation and immune system activation. In this study, we aimed to determine the association of NLR and PLR with depression in dialysis patients. This study included 71 adults over 18 without known hematologic or oncologic disease, drug use, or chronic inflammatory diseases. Comorbid chronic diseases, laboratory data, and Beck depression inventory scores were prospectively recorded. A comparison of 2 groups according to the existence of depression was made, and a binomial logistic regression test was used to determine the association between the variables and the presence of depression after adjusting for confounding factors. A receiver operating curve analysis was used to differentiate groups with and without severe depression. Seventy-one patients met the study criteria, with 46 hemodialysis and 25 peritoneal dialysis patients. The majority had hypertension and diabetes mellitus, with 47.89% having minimal-minor depression and 52.11% having moderate-major depression. The 2 groups were similar regarding chronic diseases, with no significant differences in serum creatinine levels, glucose, lipid profiles, or electrolytes. However, when the NLR of the 2 groups was compared, the median was higher in patients with moderate or major depression. Multivariate analysis showed no significant differences between the groups in PLR, triglyceride to glucose ratio, and C-reactive peptide to albumin ratio. The best NLR cutoff value was 3.26, with 48.6% sensitivity, 88.2% specificity, 81.8% positive predictive value, 61.2% negative predictive value, and 67.6% test accuracy. Depression is one of the most common psychiatric conditions in dialysis patients and is linked to increased morbidity, mortality, treatment failure, expense, and hospitalization. NLR helped predict moderate-to-major depression in dialysis patients, even after controlling for confounding factors in multivariate analysis. This study indicated that an NLR successfully identified depressive groups, and patients with an NLR value >3.26 were 6.1 times more likely to have moderate or major depression.

Coping Behaviors and Incident Kidney Disease

Key Points

Adaptive coping behaviors are associated with lower odds of incident CKD. Coping behaviors could represent a target to prevent CKD.

Background

How someone copes may alter the trajectory of their kidney function. We aimed to evaluate whether coping behaviors were associated with incident CKD or rapid kidney function decline.

Methods

We used data from the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span study (Baltimore, MD) for this longitudinal analysis. Adaptive and maladaptive coping behavioral constructs were measured using the Brief COPE Inventory at visit 1. We used multiple logistic regression to assess the odds of incident CKD and rapid kidney function decline per point increase in coping scales and adjusted for baseline demographics and clinical variables.

Results

Of 1935 participants, mean age was 48 years, 44% were male, 56% were Black persons, and baseline mean (SD) eGFR was 91 (16) ml/min per 1.73 m2. After a median of 8.2 years, 113 participants developed incident CKD and 341 had rapid kidney function decline. Compared with those who reported they usually did not use adaptive coping behaviors at all (such as emotional support), those with the highest use of adaptive coping had lower odds of incident CKD. Every 1-unit increase in adaptive coping corresponded with a 2% lower adjusted odds of incident CKD (odds ratio, 0.98; 95% confidence interval, 0.95 to 0.99). There was no association between maladaptive coping behaviors and incident CKD. Coping behaviors were not associated with rapid kidney function decline.

Conclusions

Adaptive coping behaviors were associated with lower odds of incident CKD and could represent a target to facilitate CKD prevention. The role of medical care in this association is an area worthy of further investigation.

Bidirectional Association Between Probable Depression and Multimorbidity Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in Thailand

Introduction

The purpose of this study was to assess the bidirectional association between multimorbidity (MM) and probable depression in a longitudinal study in Thailand.

Methods

We analyzed longitudinal data of participants 45 years and older from two consecutive waves (in 2015 and 2017) of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Thailand (HART). Probable depression was assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the association between baseline probable depression and incident physical MM, and baseline physical MM and incident probable depression.

Results

In all, 2712 participants without MM at baseline and 2684 without probable depression at baseline were included. At follow-up 15.6% of probable depression cases and 11.4% of nonprobable depression cases developed physical MM, and at follow-up 13.3% of physical MM cases and 8.9% of nonphysical MM cases developed probable depression. In the final logistic regression analysis, adjusted for age, sex, marital status, income, education, body mass index, physical activity, smoking tobacco, alcohol use, and social engagement, probable depression at baseline was positively associated with incident physical MM (aOR: 1.50, 95% CI: 1.09 to 2.06), and physical MM at baseline was positively associated with incident probable depression (aOR: 1.47, 95% CI: 1.07 to 2.02).

Discussion

Baseline physical MM increases the risk of incident probable depression and baseline probable depression increases the risk of incident physical MM among middle-aged and older adults in Thailand.

Changes in Tryptophan-Kynurenine Metabolism in Patients with Depression Undergoing ECT-A Systematic Review

The kynurenine pathway of tryptophan (Trp) metabolism generates multiple biologically active metabolites (kynurenines) that have been implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders. It has been suggested that modulation of kynurenine metabolism could be involved in the therapeutic effect of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). We performed a systematic review with aims of summarizing changes in Trp and/or kynurenines after ECT and assessing methodological issues. The inclusion criterium was measures of Trp and/or kynurenines before and after ECT. Animal studies and studies using Trp administration or Trp depletion were excluded. Embase, MEDLINE, PsycInfo and PubMed were searched, most recently in July 2022. Outcomes were levels of Trp, kynurenines and ratios before and after ECT. Data on factors affecting Trp metabolism and ECT were collected for interpretation and discussion of the reported changes. We included 17 studies with repeated measures for a total of 386 patients and 27 controls. Synthesis using vote counting based on the direction of effect found no evidence of effect of ECT on any outcome variable. There were considerable variations in design, patient characteristics and reported items. We suggest that future studies should include larger samples, assess important covariates and determine between- and within-subject variability. PROSPERO (CRD42020187003).

Predictors of somatic symptom persistence in patients with chronic kidney disease (SOMA.CK): study protocol for a mixed-methods cohort study

INTRODUCTION

Seven of 10 patients with non-dialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) experience burdensome persistent somatic symptoms (PSS). Despite the high prevalence and relevance for quality of life, disease progression and mortality, the pathogenesis of PSS in CKD remains poorly understood. The SOMA.CK study aims to investigate biopsychosocial predictors and their interactions for PSS in non-dialysis CKD and to develop a multivariate prognostic prediction model for PSS in CKD.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The study is a mixed-methods cohort study with assessments at baseline, 6 and 12 months. It aims to include 330 patients with CKD stages G2-4 (eGFR=15-89 mL/min/1.73 m²). Primary outcome is the CKD-specific somatic symptom burden assessed with the CKD Symptom Burden Index. Secondary outcomes include quality of life, general somatic symptom burden and functioning. The interplay of biomedical (eg, biomarkers, epigenetics), treatment-related (eg, therapies and medication) and psychosocial variables (eg, negative affectivity, expectations) will be investigated to develop a prognostic prediction model for PSS. In an embedded mixed-methods approach, an experimental study in 100 patients using an affective picture paradigm will test the effect of negative affect induction on symptom perception. An embedded longitudinal qualitative study in 40-50 newly diagnosed patients will use thematic analysis to explore mechanisms of symptom development after receiving a CKD diagnosis. SOMA.CK is part of the interdisciplinary research unit 'Persistent SOMAtic Symptoms ACROSS Diseases'.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Hamburg Medical Association (2020-10195-BO-ff). Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, scientific conferences, the involvement of our patient advisory board and the lay public. Focusing on subjective symptom burden instead of objective disease markers will fundamentally broaden the understanding of PSS in CKD and pave the path for the development of mechanism-based tailored interventions.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ISRCTN16137374.

The bidirectional association between depressive symptoms, assessed by the HADS, and albuminuria–A longitudinal population-based cohort study with repeated measures from the HUNT2 and HUNT3 Study

Background

Both albuminuria and depression are associated with cardiovascular disease, reflecting low-grade systemic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. They share risk factors including weight, blood pressure, smoking and blood glucose levels. This longitudinal study aimed to examine bidirectional associations between depression symptoms, indexed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS), and the inflammation marker albuminuria.

Methods

2909 persons provided urine samples in both the second (HUNT2, 1995–97) and third wave (HUNT3, 2006–2008) of the Trøndelag Health Survey, Norway. We used a generalized linear regression model (GLM) and ANOVA to assess the association between albuminuria levels (exposure HUNT2) with depression symptoms (outcome in HUNT3); and between depression symptoms (exposure HUNT2) with albuminuria (outcome HUNT3). Depression symptoms were measured with the HADS Depression Scale, analyzed utilising the full 7 items version and analyses restricted to the first 4 items (HADS-D and HADS-4). We accounted for confounders including baseline individual levels of the exposure variables.

Results

In this 10-years follow-up study, we found no statistical evidence for an association between baseline depression symptoms and subsequent albuminuria, nor between baseline albuminuria and subsequent depression symptoms. For albuminuria, only 0.04% was explained by prior depression, and for depression, only 0.007% was explained by previous albuminuria levels. The results were essentially the same for the shorter HADS-4 measure.

Conclusion

There does not appear to be a longitudinal association between albuminuria and depression measured by the HADS.

Individualized identification of sexual dysfunction of psychiatric patients with machine-learning

Sexual dysfunction (SD) is prevalent in patients with mental health disorders and can significantly impair their quality of life. Early recognition of SD in a clinical setting may help patients and clinicians to optimize treatment options of SD and/or other primary diagnoses taking SD risk into account and may facilitate treatment compliance. SD identification is often overlooked in clinical practice; we seek to explore whether patients with a high risk of SD can be identified at the individual level by assessing known risk factors via a machine learning (ML) model. We assessed 135 subjects referred to a tertiary mental health clinic in a Western Canadian city using health records data, including age, sex, physician's diagnoses, drug treatment, and the Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX). A ML model was fitted to the data, with SD status derived from the ASEX as target outcomes and all other variables as predicting variables. Our ML model was able to identify individual SD cases-achieving a balanced accuracy of 0.736, with a sensitivity of 0.750 and a specificity of 0.721-and identified major depressive disorder and female sex as risk factors, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as a potential protective factor. This study highlights the utility of SD screening in a psychiatric clinical setting, demonstrating a proof-of-concept ML approach for SD screening in psychiatric patients, which has marked potential to improve their quality of life.