Depression and obesity, data from a national administrative database study: Geographic evidence for an epidemiological overlap

{Background Depression and obesity are two major conditions with both psychological and somatic burdens. Some data suggest strong connections between depression and obesity and more particularly associated prevalence of both disorders. However, little is known about the geographical distribution of these two diseases. This study aimed to determine if there is spatial overlap between obesity and depression using data from the entire French territory. Methods Data for 5,627 geographic codes for metropolitan France were collected from the two national hospital databases (PMSI-MCO and RIM-P) for the year 2016. We identified people who were depressed, obese or both registered in the two public medico-administrative databases, and we assessed their location. In addition, a multivariable analysis was performed in order to determine geographic interactions between obesity and depression after controlling for age, sex, environmental and socio-economic factors (social/material deprivation, urbanicity/rurality). Results 1,045,682 people aged 18 years and older were identified. The mapping analysis showed several cold and hot regional clusters of coinciding obesity and depression. The multivariable analysis demonstrated significant geographic interactions, with an increasing probability of finding a high prevalence of obesity in regions with major depression (OR 1.29 95% CI 1.13-1.49