Depressed Affect, Hopelessness, and the Risk of Ischemic Heart Disease in a Cohort of U.S. Adults

• Published in: Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.) Mass.), 1993-07, Vol.4 (4), p.285-294
• Main Authors: Anda, Robert, Williamson, David, Jones, Diane, MacEra, Carol, Eaker, Elaine, Glassman, Alexander, Marks, James
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Cohort Studies; Depressive Disorder - complications; Depressive disorders; Disease risk; Educational Status; Epidemiology; Exercise; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Heart diseases; Hope; Humans; Major depressive disorder; Male; Middle Aged; Mood Disorders - complications; Mortality; Myocardial ischemia; Myocardial Ischemia - etiology; Myocardial Ischemia - mortality; Myocardial Ischemia - psychology; Predisposing factors; Prevalence; Risk Factors; Sex Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; Survival Rate; United States - epidemiology
• ISSN: 1044-3983; 1531-5487
• DOI: 10.1097/00001648-199307000-00003

Major depression has been associated with mortality from ischemic heart disease (IHD). In addition, a symptom of depression-hopelessness-has been suggested as a determinant of health status. We studied the relation of both depressed affect and hopelessness to IHD incidence using data from a cohort of 2,832 U.S. adults age 45-77 years who participated in the National Health Examination Follow-up Study (mean follow-up = 12.4 years) and had no history of IHD or serious illness at baseline. We used the depression subscale of the General Well-Being Schedule to define depressed affect and a single item from the scale to define hopelessness. At baseline, 11.1% of the cohort had depressed affect; 10.8% reported moderate hopelessness, and 2.9% reported severe hopelessness. Depressed affect and hopelessness were more common among women, blacks, and persons who were less educated, unmarried, smokers, or physically inactive. There were 189 cases of fatal IHD during the follow-up period. After we adjusted for demographic and risk factors, depressed affect was related to fatal IHD [relative risk = 1.5; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.0-2.3]; the relative risks of fatal IHD for moderate and severe levels of hopelessness were 1.6 (95% CI = 1.0-2.5) and 2.1 (95% CI = 1.1-3.9), respectively. Depressed affect and hopelessness were also associated with an increased risk of nonfatal IHD. These data indicate that depressed affect and hopelessness may play a causal role in the occurrence of both fatal and nonfatal IHD.