Publication date: Aug 01, 2026
Systemic inflammation may play a role in depression. This study examined the association between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), a well-established biomarker of systemic inflammation, and the severity of depression symptoms as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2015-2023 were utilized. Depression was classified as low (PHQ-9 3 mg/L). Logistic regression models were used to analyze the association between hs-CRP and depression symptom severity, adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, health-related covariates, while considering the NHANES complex sampling design. Among 15,525 U. S. adults, elevated hs-CRP levels were significantly associated with high depression symptom severity. hs-CRP > 3 mg/L was associated with 26% greater odds of high depression symptom severity (adjusted OR = 1. 26; 95% CI: 1. 04-1. 51; p-value = 0. 018). Other factors associated with greater odds of high depression symptom severity included female sex, younger age (20-39 years), low-income status, unmarried status, tobacco use, multimorbidity, and timing of survey responses in relation to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Exploratory depression symptom-domain analysis showed that hs-CRP was significantly associated with somatic symptom-domain (p-value
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | inflammation |
| disease | MESH | included |
| disease | MESH | COVID-19 pandemic |
| disease | MESH | somatic symptom |