Depressive symptoms, inflammation, and ischemic stroke in older adults: a prospective analysis in the cardiovascular health study.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the mediator role of inflammation in any relationship between depressive symptoms and ischemic stroke.


METHODS
Longitudinal prospective study.


METHODS
Review of medical records, death certificates, and the Medicare healthcare utilization database for hospitalizations.


METHODS
Total of 5,525 elderly men and women aged 65 and older who were prospectively followed from 1989 to 2000 as participants in the Cardiovascular Health Study.


METHODS
Depression symptom scores, inflammatory markers.


RESULTS
Greater depressive symptoms were associated with risk of ischemic stroke (unadjusted hazard ratio (HR)=1.32, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.09-1.59; HR=1.26, 95% CI=1.03-1.54, adjusted for traditional risk factors). When a term for inflammation (C-reactive protein (CRP)) was introduced in the model, the HRs were not appreciably altered (unadjusted HR=1.31, 95% CI=1.08-1.58; adjusted HR=1.25, 95% CI=1.02-1.53), indicating that CRP at baseline was not a mediator in this relationship. In analyses stratified according to CRP levels, a J-shaped relationship between depressive symptoms and stroke was evident in the unadjusted analyses; in the fully adjusted model, only CRP in the highest tertile was associated with a higher risk for stroke in the presence of higher depressive symptoms scores.


CONCLUSIONS
The analyses from this prospective study provide evidence of a positive association between depressive symptoms and risk of incident stroke. Inflammation, as measured according to CRP at baseline, did not appear to mediate the relationship between depressive symptoms and stroke.
Arbelaez
Jose J
JJ
Department of Epidemiology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. jarbela1@jhmi.edu
Ariyo
Abraham A
AA
Crum
Rosa M
RM
Fried
Linda P
LP
Ford
Daniel E
DE
D000368:Aged; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000523:psychology; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000523:psychology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000276:immunology / Q000523:psychology; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010552:Personality Assessment; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011598:Psychoneuroimmunology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014481:United States
D002097:C-Reactive Protein