Clinical depression, antidepressant use and risk of future cardiovascular disease

• Published in: European journal of epidemiology 2013-07, Vol.28 (7), p.589-595
• Main Authors: Rahman, Iffat, Humphreys, Keith, Bennet, Anna Michaela, Ingelsson, Erik, Pedersen, Nancy Lee, Magnussen, Patrik Karl Erik
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aged; Antidepressants; Antidepressive Agents - adverse effects; Antidepressive Agents - therapeutic use; Biological and medical sciences; Cardiology; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases - epidemiology; Cardiovascular Diseases - etiology; Coronary artery disease; Coronary Disease - epidemiology; Coronary Disease - etiology; Depression; Depression - diagnosis; Depression - drug therapy; Depression - epidemiology; Depressive disorders; Epidemiology; Female; General aspects; Genetic variation; Humans; Infectious Diseases; International Statistical Classification of Diseases; Interviews as Topic; Major depressive disorder; Male; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental depression; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Mood disorders; Morbidity - trends; Mortality - trends; Neuropharmacology; Oncology; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Prescription drugs; Prospective Studies; PSYCHIATRIC EPIDEMIOLOGY; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer..., (alzheimer disease); Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychopharmacology; Public Health; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Registries; Risk Factors; Serotonin agents; Socioeconomic Factors; Stroke - complications; Stroke - epidemiology; Stroke - etiology; Strokes; Surveys and Questionnaires; Sweden - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0393-2990; 1573-7284; 1573-7284
• DOI: 10.1007/s10654-013-9821-z

Many studies have shown that depression contributes to a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). Use of antidepressants and its association with CVD development has also been investigated previously but the results have been conflicting. Further, depression and use of antidepressants have been more widely studied in relation to coronary heart disease rather than stroke. A population-based cohort study consisting of 36,654 Swedish elderly twins was conducted with a followup of maximum 4 years. Information on exposures, outcomes and covariates were collected from the Swedish national patient registers, the Swedish prescribed drug registry and the Swedish twin registry. Depression and antidepressant use were both associated with CVD development. The risk was most pronounced among depressed patients who did not use antidepressants (HR 1. 48, CI 1.10-2.00). When assessing the two main CVD outcomes coronary heart disease and ischemie stroke separately, the predominant association was found for ischemie stroke while it was absent for coronary heart disease. The association between depression and stroke also remained significant when restricting to depression diagnoses occurring at least 10 years before baseline. The study supports that depression is a possible risk factor for development of CVD. Moreover, the hazard rate for CVD outcomes was highest among depressed patients who had not used antidepressants. The association with clinical depression is more marked in relation to stroke and disappears in relation to development of coronary heart disease.