Is there an association between depressive symptoms and coronary artery disease in the Polish adult population?

BACKGROUND

Evidence-based medicine has confirmed the role of psychosocial factors in the pathogenesis of many diseases, both cardiovascular (CVD) and metabolic. On the other hand, CVD patients often suffer from concomitant diseases. Depression was found to be an independent predictor of coronary artery disease (CAD) in many populations.

AIM: To evaluate the association between depressive symptoms (DS) and CAD in the Polish adult population.

METHODS

A random sample of the Polish population (6392 men and 7153 women), aged 20-74 years, was examined in 2003-2005 for the presence of DS using the Beck Depression Inventory.

RESULTS

In the examined population, CAD was found in 12.1% of men and 11.0% of women. Persons with CAD were older, more often finished their education at the level of primary school and lived in large communes, and more often had obesity, hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidaemia compared to those without CAD. DS were found twice more often in persons with CAD compared to those without CAD, both in men and women. Subjects with DS were twice more likely to have CAD (men: odds ratio [OR] 2.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.78-2.56; women: OR 2.03, 95% CI 1.70-2.43) and arrhythmia (women), and 1.5-fold more likely to report myocardial infarction and arrhythmia.

CONCLUSIONS

A significant association between DS and CAD, myocardial infarction and arrhythmia independent of CVD risk factors was found in the Polish adult population.