title: [Depressive symptoms after an acute myocardial infarction].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Depression after myocardial infarction (MI) is a frequent disorder and it increases the long-term risk of cardiac mortality.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the frequency of depressive symptoms and the history of depression in hospitalized post-MI patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  During three months, depressive symptoms and history of depression were studied in 47 consecutive patients (mean age 59.8+/-9.5 years, 68% male), admitted for MI to the Barros Luco Trudeau Hospital. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI 2.1) were used with DSM-IV diagnosis criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  According to the results obtained using the CIDI, 27,7% of the patients had a history of depression. This occurred in 53,3% of women and 15,6% of men (p <0.01). During the hospitalization, 38.3% of patients had depressive symptoms (BDI > or =17 points), affecting 60% of women and 28,1% of men (p <0.02). In women and patients with history of depression, depressive symptoms tended to be more common and more severe.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Depressive symptoms in post-MI patients are frequent and attending physicians should actively detect them.
authors.affiliation: Universidad de los Andes, Santiago, Chile. berniblumel@yahoo.es
authors.forename: Bernardita
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Blümel
authors.forename: Allister
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gibbons
authors.forename: Andrés
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kanacri
authors.forename: Nicolás
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kerrigan
authors.forename: Ramón
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Florenzano
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000209:etiology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000523:psychology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index