HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ALL ISSUES SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a Colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Almeida, O. P. Articles by Jamrozik, K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Almeida, O. P. Articles by Jamrozik, K.

Association of Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Disease With Depression in Later Life

From the Unit of Geriatric Psychiatry (OPA), the Unit of Geriatric Medicine (LF), and the Stroke Unit (GJH), University of Western Australia and Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Australia; the School of Surgery and Pathology, University of Western Australia (PN, FMvB), Perth, Australia; the Department of Biochemistry, Royal Perth Hospital (SV, FMvB), Perth, Australia; and the School of Population Health of the University of Queensland (KJ), Crawley, Australia.

Objective: The objective of this study is to determine the association between established cardiovascular risk factors and depression among older men.

Methods: The authors conducted a cross-sectional study of a community-representative sample of 5,439 men aged 71–89 years. Cardiovascular disease and risk factors assessed included history of diabetes, hypertension, angina, myocardial infarction, and stroke; current smoking; total cholesterol and fractions; triglycerides; total plasma homocysteine; and MTHFR677 genotype. Depression was defined by a Geriatric Depression Scale 15 items score of 7 or greater.

Results: A complete data set was available for 4,204 men, of whom 212 were depressed (5%). Men who were depressed reported higher frequency of diabetes (23.1% versus 13.2%), angina (30.2% versus 20.4%), myocardial infarction (26.2% versus 16.0%), and stroke (23.6% versus 9.1%) than nondepressed men. Participants with depression were also more likely to have plasma homocysteine above 15 µmol/L (39.1% versus 25.5%) and high triglycerides (32.1% versus 20.9%) than nondepressed subjects. Depressed older men were also more likely to be active smokers (9.9% versus 4.8%). The other factors measured in the study were not significantly associated with depression. Estimation of the population-attributable fraction (PAF) after logistic regression showed that high plasma homocysteine had the highest PAF for depression (PAF:15%, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 5%–23%) followed by high triglycerides (PAF: 11%, 95% CI: 2%–18%), angina (PAF: 9%, 95% CI: 2%–15%), stroke (PAF: 8%, 95% CI: 3%–13%), diabetes (PAF: 7%, 95% CI: 1%–13%), myocardial infarction (PAF: 5%, 95% CI: 0%–11%), and smoking (PAF: 5%, 95% CI: 1%–9%).

Conclusions: High plasma homocysteine and triglycerides appear to account for a considerable proportion of cases of depression in older men. The successful management of these risk factors may contribute to decrease the prevalence of depression in later life.

Key Words: Depression • mood disorder • mental health • cardiovascular disease • homocysteine • triglycerides • stroke • angina • myocardial infarction • diabetes • smoking • elderly

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. J. Anstey, D. M. Lipnicki, and L.-F. Low Cholesterol as a Risk Factor for Dementia and Cognitive Decline: A Systematic Review of Prospective Studies With Meta-Analysis Am J Geriatr Psychiatry, May 1, 2008; 16(5): 343 - 354. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. E Norman, L. Flicker, O. P Almeida, G. J Hankey, Z. Hyde, and K. Jamrozik Cohort Profile: The Health In Men Study (HIMS) Int. J. Epidemiol., March 3, 2008; (2008) dyn041v1. [Full Text] [PDF]