Depression and risk of sudden cardiac death and coronary heart disease in women: results from the Nurses' Health Study.
OBJECTIVE
We assessed the association between depression and sudden cardiac death (SCD) and cardiac events among individuals without baseline coronary heart disease (CHD).


BACKGROUND
Depression is a risk factor for cardiac events and mortality among those with CHD, possibly from arrhythmia.


METHODS
We studied depressive symptoms and a proxy variable for clinical depression consisting of severe symptoms and/or antidepressant medication use and their relationship to cardiac events in the Nurses' Health Study. Questionnaires in 1992, 1996, and 2000 assessed symptoms with the Mental Health Index (MHI-5), and antidepressant use was assessed in 1996 and 2000. Primary end points included SCD, fatal CHD, and nonfatal myocardial infarction.


RESULTS
Among 63,469 women without prior CHD/stroke in 1992, 7.9% had MHI-5 scores <53, previously found to predict clinical depression. Depressive symptoms were associated with CHD events, and the relationship was strongest for fatal CHD, where the association remained significant even after controlling for CHD risk factors (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.49; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.11 to 2.00 for MHI-5 score <53). In models from 1996 onward, our proxy variable for clinical depression was most associated with SCD in multivariable models (HR: 2.33, 95% CI: 1.47 to 3.70), and this risk was primarily due to a specific relationship between antidepressant use and SCD (HR: 3.34, 95% CI: 2.03 to 5.50).


CONCLUSIONS
In this cohort of women without baseline CHD, depressive symptoms were associated with fatal CHD, and a measure of clinical depression including antidepressant use was specifically associated with SCD. Although antidepressant use might be a marker of worse depression, its specific association with SCD merits further study.
Whang
William
W
Division of Cardiology, Columbia University Medical Center, 180 Fort Washington Avenue, New York, NY 10032, USA. ww42@columbia.edu
Kubzansky
Laura D
LD
Kawachi
Ichiro
I
Rexrode
Kathryn M
KM
Kroenke
Candyce H
CH
Glynn
Robert J
RJ
Garan
Hasan
H
Albert
Christine M
CM
D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000523:psychology*; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016387:Women's Health