The prevalence of acute pancreatitis (AP) and mental health disorders (MHDs) are rising. While the association between chronic pancreatitis (CP) and MHDs is established, it is unknown whether there is a risk of MHDs after an index episode of AP. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of MHDs and pharmacotherapy use after an episode of AP.
This was a large observational study using the TriNetX research network, an electronic health record dataset containing inpatient and outpatient data from more than 50 healthcare organizations. Patients with AP from 2015-2020 were identified. Four cohorts were created: acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP), acute pancreatitis without necrosis (AP-WON), acute appendicitis, and healthy controls without pancreatitis. The cohorts were matched by age, sex, race, ethnicity, and nicotine and alcohol use. The primary outcome was new composite MHDs at one-year. Secondary outcomes included stratified MHDs, psychiatric medication use, opioid analgesic use, and all-cause mortality.
The ANP, AP-WON, appendicitis, and healthy control cohorts contained 11,806, 177,266, 27,187, and 561,833 patients, respectively. Patients with AP-WON had significantly higher rates of composite MHDs compared with those hospitalized for appendicitis (9.7% vs 4.7%, HR 1.9, 95% CI 1.7-1.9). This association was augmented when comparing ANP to appendicitis (12.8% vs 5.2%, HR 2.4, 95% CI 2.1-2.7). All secondary outcomes were observed at significantly higher rates in the AP-WON cohort when compared to appendicitis. Again, these associations were augmented comparing ANP to appendicitis.
Compared with controls, patients with AP had significantly higher rates of new MHDs and their associated pharmacotherapies at one-year, suggesting that a single episode of AP may independently place patients at risk for developing MHDs irrespective of whether they go on to develop CP.

Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.