Depression screening and patient outcomes in cardiovascular care: a systematic review.
BACKGROUND
Several practice guidelines recommend that depression be evaluated and treated in patients with cardiovascular disease, but the potential benefits of this are unclear.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the potential benefits of depression screening in patients with cardiovascular disease by assessing (1) the accuracy of depression screening instruments; (2) the effect of depression treatment on depression and cardiac outcomes; and (3) the effect of screening on depression and cardiac outcomes in patients in cardiovascular care settings.


METHODS
MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, EMBASE, ISI, SCOPUS, and Cochrane databases from inception to May 1, 2008; manual journal searches; reference list reviews; and citation tracking of included articles.


METHODS
We included articles in any language about patients in cardiovascular care settings that (1) compared a screening instrument to a valid major depressive disorder criterion standard; (2) compared depression treatment with placebo or usual care in a randomized controlled trial; or (3) assessed the effect of screening on depression identification and treatment rates, depression, or cardiac outcomes.


METHODS
Methodological characteristics and outcomes were extracted by 2 investigators.


RESULTS
We identified 11 studies about screening accuracy, 6 depression treatment trials, but no studies that evaluated the effects of screening on depression or cardiovascular outcomes. In studies that tested depression screening instruments using a priori-defined cutoff scores, sensitivity ranged from 39% to 100% (median, 84%) and specificity ranged from 58% to 94% (median, 79%). Depression treatment with medication or cognitive behavioral therapy resulted in modest reductions in depressive symptoms (effect size, 0.20-0.38; r(2), 1%-4%). There was no evidence that depression treatment improved cardiac outcomes. Among patients with depression and history of myocardial infarction in the ENRICHD trial, there was no difference in event-free survival between participants treated with cognitive behavioral therapy supplemented by an antidepressant vs usual care (75.5% vs 74.7%, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
Depression treatment with medication or cognitive behavioral therapy in patients with cardiovascular disease is associated with modest improvement in depressive symptoms but no improvement in cardiac outcomes. No clinical trials have assessed whether screening for depression improves depressive symptoms or cardiac outcomes in patients with cardiovascular disease.
Thombs
Brett D
BD
Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada. brett.thombs@mcgill.ca
de Jonge
Peter
P
Coyne
James C
JC
Whooley
Mary A
MA
Frasure-Smith
Nancy
N
Mitchell
Alex J
AJ
Zuidersma
Marij
M
Eze-Nliam
Chete
C
Lima
Bruno B
BB
Smith
Cheri G
CG
Soderlund
Karl
K
Ziegelstein
Roy C
RC
D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000072038:Cardiac Rehabilitation; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000523:psychology*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
D000928:Antidepressive Agents