Association Between Cortisol Levels And Depression Severity In Patients With Cushing’s Syndrome

Abstract

Background: Depression stands as a common condition among those affected which strongly affects their quality of life along with disease progression. Elevated cortisol rates are thought to damage neurochemical processes that ultimately produce mood disorders. The direct link between cortisol levels and depressive symptom intensity has not received enough attention during clinical evaluations.

Objectives:
to elevated cortisol levels through chronic occurrence causes Cushing’s syndrome which produces many physical and psychological complications.

Study design: A prospective study.

Place and duration of study: Department Of Endocrinology HMC Peshawar From Jan 2023 To July 2023

Methods:
The study took place at [Insert Hospital Name] within the Endocrinology and Psychiatry departments during the time period from January 2024 to December 2024. Study obtained 100 confirmed endogenous Cushing’s syndrome patients for study participation. The study assessed cortisol levels present in blood samples collected from patients during morning time. The evaluation of depression severity utilized the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D). A classification of patients was established through their depression severity levels: individuals had none, mild, moderate or severe depression. The study analysis utilized SPSS version 24.0 for its operations. The statistical analysis of associations used Pearson’s correlation coefficient and set a p-value below 0.05 for statistical significance.

Results:
100 patients included 48 females who made up 60% and 32 male subjects who composed 40% of the sample. The patients' average age fell at 38.4 ± 10.6 years. The study revealed that depression was detected in 57 (71.3%) patients who exhibited mild depression while 20 (25%) patients faced moderate depression and 11 (13.8%) patients demonstrated severe depression. Laboratory examination established a statistically significant positive relationship between serum cortisol level measurements and HAM-D scores with a correlation coefficient value of 0.61 (p < 0.001). The mean cortisol concentrations measured at 31.8 ± 4.6 µg/dL in patients with severe depression proved to be higher than the mean concentrations of patients with no depression or mild depressive symptoms (p < 0.001).

Conclusion:
higher cortisol levels directly relate to more severe depressive symptoms in people who have Cushing’s syndrome. The results show that early psychiatric assessments combined with early intervention need to be part of standard care for Cushing’s syndrome patients. Combining hormone management strategies with mental health care practice should improve both patient recovery success and total wellness outcomes. Additional study must be performed to validate the causal relationship.