Depressive symptoms and major adverse cardiovascular events: 12-month follow-up in patients undergoing angiography

Depression is closely related to coronary artery disease (CAD). However, the association of depression before angiography with major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) is still unknown.

In a prospective cohort study, 410 patients underwent angiography for the first time between 2016 and 2017 in Dr. Heshmat Hospital, Rasht, Iran. Demographic and medical information were collected and depressive symptoms were assessed using Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). The patients were followed for one year after angiography. Chi-square test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were performed to compare demographic and clinical characteristics of patients between different levels of depressive symptoms. Multiple Cox regression analysis was performed to assess the association between depression symptoms before angiography and MACE rate controlled for the effect of confounders.

Of 410 patients, follow-up data were available for 380 (95%) patients. the MACE occurred in 134 (35%) patients. Depressive symptoms were observed in 42% of patients. Based on multivariable Cox regression analysis, adjusted for CAD severity, the risk of one-year MACE occurrence in patients with mild, moderate, and severe depressive symptoms was 1.96 [95% confidence interval (CI) for hazard ratio (HR): 1.30-2.94], 1.88 (95% CI for HR: 1.15-3.09), and 2.81 (95% CI for HR: 1.56-5.06) times that of patients without depressive symptoms, respectively. Depression in patients before angiography increased the risk of MACE up to 2.045 times.

The results showed that MACE in patients with depression was more than patients without depression. MACE in different levels of depression (mild, moderate, severe) was not significantly different.