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Clinical depression confers elevated risk for abdominal aortic aneurysm
Patients aged 50 years or older with depression were found to have a significantly greater risk for abdominal aortic aneurysm than those without depression, according to findings published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Researchers observed that patients with depressive symptoms had an approximately 30% higher risk for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) compared with those who do not (HR = 1.32, 95% CI, 1.08–1.61).
Moreover, the estimated proportion of patients diagnosed with AAA was higher among those with depressive symptoms, across the entire cohort of patients, regardless of age, compared with patients with no symptoms (P < .001).
“Our study provides new support to consider assessment of symptoms for depression in the risk evaluation of development of abdominal aortic aneurysms,” Linn ldstedt Nyrønning, MD, of the department of vascular surgery at St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim, Norway, and colleagues wrote. “Assessing symptoms of depression in the risk evaluation of development of abdominal aortic aneurysms could be important when screening subgroups at increased risk of the disease.”
Researchers observed that patients with a Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale score of at least 8 were older than those with HADS less than 8 (median, 57.8 vs. 52.3 years, P < .001). According to the study, a significantly higher proportion of patients with HADS of at least 8 were smokers, overweight or obese and reported a history of CHD, diabetes and hypertension (P < .001).
“Although the risk of AAA was higher among individuals with depressive symptoms defined by a HADS-D 8, no difference was found between individuals with severe (HADS-D 11) and less severe symptoms (HADS-D 8–11),” the researchers wrote. “The number of individuals with severe depressive symptoms was low in our study population, which might result from recruitment bias. Individuals with depression, particularly severe depression, tend to not attend screening programs or population-based studies upon invitation.”
In this population-based prospective study, researchers analyzed 59,136 patients (mean age, 57 years; 52% women; 29% smokers; 4% with diabetes) from the HUNT study. Investigators aimed to determine whether individuals with depressive symptoms have increased risk for AAA.
“Our study provides significant new support to include assessment of depression in the evaluation of risk of AAA, which could potentially be especially important when screening subgroups at increased risk of this disease,” the researchers wrote. – by Scott Buzby
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.