Depressive symptoms and 10-year risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Depression is associated with increased physical morbidity and overall mortality. As less is known about how much depression increases the 10-year risk for fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular (CV) events, we evaluated the cross-sectional risk with two well-characterized risk functions measuring CV mortality and total CV event risk. METHODS: The prevalence of increased depressive symptoms was measured with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the SCORE and Framingham risk functions were calculated in a middle-aged population-based sample (N=923). For metabolic syndrome (MetS), the modified National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III criteria were employed. RESULTS: Depressive symptoms were associated with increased CV mortality and morbidity risk in men: OR for SCORE 2.9; 95%CI 1.4-5.7 and OR for Framingham function 2.2 (95%CI 1.1-4.2). In women, the corresponding figures were 1.4 (95%CI 0.3-6.9) and 1.3 (95%CI 0.7-2.6). The BDI scores showed significant correlations with SCORE (r=0.18 for men, P < 0.001; and r=0.14 for women, P=0.002), and Framingham function (for men r=0.16, P < 0.001; and for women r=0.13, P=0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that screening and effective treatment of depression are important in the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular events, especially in males.