Associations of major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and aggression with subclinical variations in kidney function biomarkers among young adults: A cross-sectional study from the rafsanjan youth coho

Psychiatric disorders emerging during adolescence and young adulthood may be associated with variations in physiological systems beyond the brain, including kidney function biomarkers. However, most previous research examining psychiatric disorders and kidney-related outcomes has focused on patients with established chronic kidney disease (CKD), while evidence from generally healthy young populations remains limited. This study aimed to investigate the associations of major depressive disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and aggression (AGG) with kidney function biomarkers, including serum creatinine (Cr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), among young participants of the Rafsanjan Youth Cohort Study (RYCS), Iran. Methods : We conducted a cross-sectional study utilizing data from the RYCS, which comprised 3006 participants aged 15–34 years. After applying predefined exclusion criteria, 2940 participants were included in the final analysis. Psychiatric disorders were assessed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), and kidney function biomarkers were evaluated using serum Cr, BUN, and eGFR measurements. Logistic regression models were used to examine associations between psychiatric disorders, GAD, and kidney function biomarkers after adjustment for potential confounding variables. Among 2940 participants with a mean age of 25.78 ± 6.04, the prevalence of MDD, OCD, GAD, and AGG was found to be 14.9%, 9.9%, 7.7%, and 39.54%, respectively. In fully adjusted analyses, GAD was associated with higher odds of above-median serum Cr level (OR: 1.74, 95% CI: 1.16–2.61). No significant associations were observed between MDD, OCD, or AGG and Cr, BUN, or eGFR. In this population-based study of generally healthy young individuals, GAD was associated with higher odds of above-median serum Cr level; however, the clinical significance of this finding remains uncertain. The absence of consistent associations across other psychiatric disorders and kidney biomarkers suggests that these findings should be interpreted cautiously. Longitudinal studies incorporating repeated renal measurements and mechanistic assessments are required to clarify whether psychiatric disorders are associated with future changes in kidney health.