First study published using Our Future Health data

The first study based on data from the UK's largest data-gathering research programme – Our Future Health – has been published, and examines the connection between autoimmune conditions and mental health conditions.

Our Future Health gathers data from millions of volunteers and aims to improve the investigation, treatment and prevention of different diseases and disorders (see BioNews 1165). Researchers from the University of Edinburgh examined data from 1,563,155 adults from England, Scotland and Wales to assess the relationship between autoimmune conditions and mental health conditions (namely depression, bipolar disorder, or anxiety disorder). Publishing their findings in BMJ Mental Health, the researchers concluded that the risk of developing one of these conditions for those with an autoimmune condition was almost double that of the general population.

'It is fantastic to see the first ever published health discovery using Our Future Health data,' said Dr Raghib Ali, chief executive and chief medical officer at Our Future Health. 'Our goal is to help researchers make important discoveries about health and this study is already doing just that, by exploring the link between inflammatory conditions and mental health.'

The researchers compared the incidence of self-reported mental health conditions between two groups – those with a self-reported lifetime diagnosis of autoimmune condition (37,808), and those without (1,525,347). They also found that people with a mental health condition are at a higher risk of developing autoimmune conditions, and that both autoimmune and mental health conditions are more prevalent among women. The researchers did not examine potential causal mechanisms, but identified this as an area for future research.

Since it was launched in 2022, Our Future Health has sought to recruit five million participants to ensure a diverse and representative UK population (see BioNews 1288, 1293 and 1295). The project's database currently includes over 1.7 million answers to its health and lifestyle questionnaire, and is the largest cohort of participants for studying mental health conditions in the world.

Participants responded to a multitude of questions including reporting medical history, family medical history and demographic information. They also answered the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 questionnaires, widely used in healthcare to determine whether a person exhibits recent symptoms of depression or anxiety respectively. The gathered data showed that one in four men and one in three women reported symptoms of depression, and the same figures for each group reported symptoms of anxiety, two weeks prior to completing the questionnaires.

'Taken together, the questionnaire answers paint an incredibly detailed picture of the nation's mental health. Researchers can apply to study the information, to spot new patterns and make new discoveries in how we prevent, detect and treat mental health diseases,' said Dr Ros Blackwood, director of population health insights at Our Future Health.

'We're thrilled to see the first paper out there generating impact – and we're looking forward to many more in the future.'