title: The interaction between anxiety and depressive symptoms on brachial artery reactivity in cardiac patients.
abstract: The association between anxiety, depression, and endothelial function (EF) was assessed in a sample of 295 cardiac outpatients (n=222 men; mean age=59). Patients were administered the Beck Depression Inventory-II and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, trait scale. EF was assessed through forearm hyperemic reactivity, a nuclear medicine variation of the flow-mediated dilatation technique, which calculates the rate of uptake ratio (RUR) between hyperaemic and non-hyperaemic arms. Neither effect of anxiety (F=1.40, p=.24) nor depression (F=2.66, p=.10) was found in a model predicting EF, however there was an interaction (F=4.11, p=.04). Higher anxiety and lower depressive symptoms were associated with superior RUR compared to lower anxiety and lower depressive symptoms. Anxiety had no influence on RUR in those patients with higher depressive symptoms, who generally displayed the lowest levels of RUR, i.e., poor function. It is speculative whether this potential protective role of anxiety may be guided by behavioral or physiological mechanisms.
authors: Montreal Behavioural Medicine Centre, Hopital du Sacre-Coeur de Montreal, 5400 Boulevard Gouin Ouest, Montreal, QC H4J 1C5, Canada; Research Centre, Montreal Heart Institute - A University of Montréal Affiliated Hospital, 5000, Rue Belanger, Montreal, QC H1T 1C8, Canada; Department of Psychology, McGill University, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montreal, QC H3A 1B1, Canada.
authors: Darren A
authors: DA
authors: Mercer
authors: Montreal Behavioural Medicine Centre, Hopital du Sacre-Coeur de Montreal, 5400 Boulevard Gouin Ouest, Montreal, QC H4J 1C5, Canada; Research Centre, Montreal Heart Institute - A University of Montréal Affiliated Hospital, 5000, Rue Belanger, Montreal, QC H1T 1C8, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM), C.P. 8888 succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3P8, Canada.
authors: Kim L
authors: KL
authors: Lavoie
authors: Department of Psychology, McGill University, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montreal, QC H3A 1B1, Canada.
authors: Blaine
authors: B
authors: Ditto
authors: Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, 2155 Guy Street, 5th Floor, Montreal, QC H3H 2R9, Canada; Division of Clinical Epidemiology, McGill University Health Centre, 687, avenue des Pins Ouest, Montreal, QC H3A 1A1, Canada.
authors: Roxanne
authors: R
authors: Pelletier
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. N.W., Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada.
authors: Tavis
authors: T
authors: Campbell
authors: Montreal Behavioural Medicine Centre, Hopital du Sacre-Coeur de Montreal, 5400 Boulevard Gouin Ouest, Montreal, QC H4J 1C5, Canada; Research Centre, Montreal Heart Institute - A University of Montréal Affiliated Hospital, 5000, Rue Belanger, Montreal, QC H1T 1C8, Canada.
authors: André
authors: A
authors: Arsenault
authors: Montreal Behavioural Medicine Centre, Hopital du Sacre-Coeur de Montreal, 5400 Boulevard Gouin Ouest, Montreal, QC H4J 1C5, Canada; Research Centre, Montreal Heart Institute - A University of Montréal Affiliated Hospital, 5000, Rue Belanger, Montreal, QC H1T 1C8, Canada; Department of Exercise Science, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC H4B 1R6, Canada. Electronic address: simon.bacon@concordia.ca.
authors: Simon L
authors: SL
authors: Bacon
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D001916:Brachial Artery / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003863:Depression / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006940:Hyperemia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D014664:Vasodilation / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Active coping; Anxiety; Cardiovascular disease; Depression; Depressive symptoms; Endothelial function; Forearm hyperemic reactivity; Passive coping