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Association Between Depressive Episode Before First Myocardial Infarction and Worse Cardiac Failure Following Infarction

Received June 30, 2004; revision received Dec. 22, 2004; accepted June 30, 2005. From the Psychological Medicine Research Group, Department of Psychiatry, Manchester University, Manchester, U.K.; and the Department of Cardiology, Manchester Royal Infirmary. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Dickens, Department of Psychiatry, Rawnsley Building, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9WL, U.K.; c.dickens{at}man.ac.uk (e-mail).

Depression following myocardial infarction is associated with a higher mortality rate. The authors studied 314 patients admitted to the hospital with a first myocardial infarction to assess whether cardiac failure after the infarction, which is also linked to a higher mortality rate, was predicted by psychosocial characteristics present before the myocardial infarction. One-fifth (20.7%) of the subjects met the ICD-10 criteria for depressive episode in the 1 month before the attack. Variables independently associated with worse cardiac failure after the myocardial infarction were greater age, a history of angina preceding the infarction, and a previous depressive episode. The impact of depression on postinfarction outcome may result from the influence of preinfarction depression on the degree of cardiac failure.

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				J. C. Huffman, F. A. Smith, M. A. Blais, A. M. Taylor, J. L. Januzzi, and G. L. Fricchione Pre-Existing Major Depression Predicts In-Hospital Cardiac Complications After Acute Myocardial Infarction Psychosomatics, July 1, 2008; 49(4): 309 - 316. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Dickens and F. Creed Authors' reply The British Journal of Psychiatry, March 1, 2007; 190(3): 273 - 273. [Full Text] [PDF]

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