Major depression is not associated with higher myocardial infarction rates: insights from a large database.

Background

Depression has been suggested to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, but many studies assessed depression after heart disease onset. This study evaluated the association between depression and myocardial infarction (MI) using a large inpatient database.

Methods

We analyzed patients from the National Inpatient Sample hospitals from 2005 to 2020, selecting those aged >30 with ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes for segment elevation (ST) elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), non-ST elevation myocardial elevation (NSTEMI) and major depression.

Results

Our data included 4413,113 STEMI patients (224,430 with depression) and 10,421,346 NSTEMI patients (437,058 with depression). No significant association was found between depression and MI. For STEMI, the 2005 odds ratio was 0.12 (95% CI: 0.10-0.15, p < 0.001) and the 2020 odds ratio was 0.71 (95% CI: 0.69-0.73, p < 0.001). Similar patterns were observed for NSTEMI.

Conclusion

Depression may not independently be a significant risk factor for MI.