Risk of dementia and psychiatric or sleep disorders after diagnosis of adrenal adenomas: a population-based cohort study

OBJECTIVE

Adrenal adenomas are commonly encountered in clinical practice. To date, population-based data on their impact on cognition, mental health, and sleep are lacking. We aimed to study possible associations between adrenal adenomas and dementia, psychiatric or sleep disorders.

DESIGN

Population-based cohort study, Olmsted County, MN, 1995-2017.

METHODS

Patients with adrenal adenoma and absent overt hormone excess were age- and sex-matched 1:1 to a referent person without adrenal adenoma. Outcomes were baseline and incident diagnoses of dementia, psychiatric or sleep disorders, assessed using ICD codes.

RESULTS

Of 1004 patients with adrenal adenomas, 582 (58%) were women, and median age at diagnosis was 63 years. At baseline, and after adjusting for age, sex, education, BMI, and tobacco use, patients with adenoma had higher odds of depression (adjusted odds ratio, aOR: 1.3, 95% CI, 1.1-1.6), anxiety (aOR: 1.4, 95% CI, 1.1-1.8), and substance abuse (aOR: 2.4, 95% CI, 1.7-3.4) compared to referents. During a median follow-up of 6.8 years, and after adjusting for age, sex, socioeconomic status, BMI, tobacco, and substance abuse, patients demonstrated a higher risk of psychiatric and sleep disorders [adjusted hazard ratio (95% CI)]: depression [1.7 (1.3-2.2)], anxiety [1.4, CI (1.1-1.7)], insomnia [1.4 (1.0-1.9)], sleep-related breathing disorders [1.5 (1.1-1.9)], hypersomnias [2.1 (1.0-4.2)], parasomnias [2.1 (1.0-4.2)], and sleep-related movement disorders [1.5 (1.0-2.1)], but not dementia.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with adenomas demonstrate a higher incidence of psychiatric and sleep disorders, possibly due to the underlying subtle increase in cortisol secretion.

Survival and associated comorbidities in inclusion body myositis

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate survival and associated comorbidities in inclusion body myositis (IBM) in a population-based, case-control study.

METHODS

We utilized the expanded Rochester Epidemiology Project medical records-linkage system, including 27 counties in Minnesota and Wisconsin, to identify patients with IBM, other inflammatory myopathies (IIM), and age/sex-matched population-controls. We compared the frequency of various comorbidities and survival among groups.

RESULTS

We identified 50 IBM patients, 65 IIM controls and 294 population controls. Dysphagia was most common in IBM (64%) patients. The frequency of neurodegenerative disorders (dementia/parkinsonism) and solid cancers was not different between groups. Rheumatoid arthritis was the most common rheumatic disease in all groups. A total of 36% of IBM patients had a peripheral neuropathy, 6% had Sjögren's syndrome and 10% had a haematologic malignancy. T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukaemia was only observed in the IBM group. None of the IBM patients had hepatitis B or C, or HIV. IBM patients were 2.7 times more likely to have peripheral neuropathy, 6.2 times more likely to have Sjögren's syndrome and 3.9 times more likely to have a haematologic malignancy than population controls. IBM was associated with increased mortality, with a 10-year survival of 36% from index, compared with 67% in IIM and 59% in population controls. Respiratory failure or pneumonia (44%) was the most common cause of death.

CONCLUSIONS

IBM is associated with lower survival, and higher frequency of peripheral neuropathy, Sjögren's syndrome and haematologic malignancies than the general population. Close monitoring of IBM-related complications is warranted.

Cohort profile: the Olmsted County hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) cohort using the Rochester Epidemiology Project

PURPOSE

The Olmsted County hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) cohort is a population-based retrospective study designed to compare the incidence of HDP on a per-pregnancy and per-woman basis and to identify associations between HDP with ageing-related diseases, as well as accumulation of multimorbidity.

PARTICIPANTS

Using the Rochester Epidemiology Project (REP) medical records-linkage system, a cohort was collected consisting of women who gave birth in Olmsted County between 1976 and 1982. After exclusions, a per-pregnancy cohort of 7544 women with 9862 pregnancies between 1976 and 1982 was identified, and their delivery information was manually reviewed. A subset of these women comprised the per-woman cohort of 4322 pregnancies from 1839 women with delivery information available throughout the entirety of their childbearing years, along with decades of follow-up data available for research via the REP.

FINDINGS TO DATE

By constructing both per-pregnancy and per-woman cohorts, we reported a doubling of HDP incidence rates when assessed on a per-woman basis compared with rates observed on a per-pregnancy basis. Moreover, in addition to finding that women with a history of HDP developed specific diseases at higher rates and at early ages, we also discovered that a history of HDP is associated with accelerated ageing, through accumulation of multimorbidity.

FUTURE PLANS

In addition to these outcomes described above, many other potential outcomes of interest for studies of HDP can be ascertained from accessing the electronic health records (EHR) and billing systems available through the REP. These data can include all International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-9 and ICD-10 and Current Procedural Terminology coded diagnoses and procedures, healthcare utilisation, including office visits, hospitalisations and emergency room visits, and full text of the EHR that is available for chart abstraction or for natural language processing of the clinical notes.