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Lifetime major depression is associated with coronary heart disease in older adults: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.

Herbst S, Pietrzak RH, Wagner J, White WB, Petry NM

Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between mood and anxiety disorders and coronary heart disease (CHD) in a nationally representative sample of older adults. METHODS: Data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions were analyzed with 10,573 adults aged > or = 60 years surveyed. RESULTS: A total of 13.30% of older adults reported diagnoses of CHD. Age (odds ratio (OR) = 1.04), morbid obesity (OR = 1.60), hypertension (OR = 2.29), lifetime nicotine dependence (OR = 1.41), and lifetime drug use disorders (OR = 2.19) were all significantly related to CHD. Being female (OR = 0.73) relative to male and a lifetime social drinker (OR = 0.71) compared with alcohol abstainers decreased the odds of CHD. After controlling for these characteristics, the presence of a lifetime major depressive episode was significantly associated with increased risk of CHD (OR = 2.05), but the lifetime anxiety disorders assessed were not. The association between lifetime mood disorders and CHD was similar for both genders, and single versus multiple depressive episodes conferred equal risk of CHD. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that a lifetime major depressive episode increases the risk of CHD in older adults.

Published 30 October 2007 in Psychosom Med, 69(8): 729-34.
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