Major depressive disorder with anger attacks and cardiovascular risk factors.
OBJECTIVE
Depression and anger have been separately associated with cardiovascular risk factors. We investigated if major depressive disorder (MDD) with concomitant anger attacks was associated with cardiovascular risk factors.


METHODS
We measured total serum cholesterol, glycemia, resting blood pressure, and smoking parameters in 333 (52.9% women) MDD nonpsychotic outpatients, mean age of 39.4 years. MDD was diagnosed with the Structured Clinical Interview (SCID) in accordance with the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised (DSM-III-R). The presence of anger attacks was established with the Massachusetts General Hospital Anger Attacks Questionnaire.


RESULTS
In a logistic regression analysis, anger attacks were independently associated with cholesterol levels > or = 200 mg/dL (odds ratio [OR], 2.16; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18-3.94) and years of smoking > 11 (OR, 2.59; 95% CI, 1.32-5.04).


CONCLUSIONS
MDD with anger attacks was significantly associated with increased cholesterol levels and years of smoking.
Fraguas
Renerio
R
Depression Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA. rfraguas@hcnet.usp.br
Iosifescu
Dan V
DV
Bankier
Bettina
B
Perlis
Roy
R
Clementi-Craven
Nicoletta
N
Alpert
Jonathan
J
Fava
Maurizio
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D000786:Anger; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006943:Hyperglycemia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires