Self-Reported Depressive Symptoms following Treatment with Corticosteroids and Sedative-Hypnotics

The incidence of self-reported depressive symptoms was elevated in subjects newly exposed to corticosteroids (Risk Ratio = 3.10), although the association did not attain statistical significance (p = .07). The risk ratio for sedative-hypnotic exposure was 4.18, a statistically significant finding (p = .02). As expected, incident self-reported depressive symptoms were also associated with several psychosocial variables. However, the data did not suggest that the observed associations between drug exposures and depressive symptoms were due to confounding by psychosocial or illness-related variables.