Depression Increases CVD, Stroke Risk in Older Adults

Serious depression is associated with significant increases in the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke in older adults, according to a recent study.

Previous research has shown an association between depressive symptoms and heart disease in older adults, but the effects of depressive symptoms over a long period of time are less well understood.
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To examine this association, researchers conducted a population-based prospective observational study of 7313 participants with no history of coronary heart disease, stroke, of dementia at baseline between 1999 and 2001 with a follow-up period of 10 years.

Participants’ mental health status, blood sugar, and cholesterol were tested at baseline interviews, as well as at 2, 4, and 7 years after baseline.

Researchers defined high levels of depressive symptoms as a score of 16 or higher on the 20-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.

After a median of 8.4 years, 629 first events of coronary heart disease or stroke occurred. Overall, participants with high levels of depressive symptoms at 1, 2, 3, or 4 interviews after baseline had a 15%, 32%, 52%, and 75% increased risk, respectively, for heart disease or stroke.

“Elderly persons exposed to high levels of depressive symptoms at several occasions over 10 years showed substantial increased risk of coronary heart disease and stroke events,” they concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Pequignot R, Dufouil C, Prugger C, et al. High level of depressive symptoms at repeated study visits and risk of coronary heart disease and stroke over 10 years in older adults: the three-city study. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.  2016;64(1):118-125.