What is the relationship between depression and SIHD?
Multiple observational studies have demonstrated an association between depression and cardiovascular events. In several studies involving outpatients with SIHD, those with symptoms of depression had more physical limitation, more frequent angina, and lower perceived quality of life than patients without depressive symptoms. Moreover, the meta-analysis of 21 prospective studies in healthy populations and 34 studies in patients with existing IHD showed an 81% greater incidence of ischemic events (MI or fatal IHD) among patients with symptoms of depression over an average follow-up period of 10.8 years. Although in aggregate the observational cohort studies suggest that depression confers a significant risk for adverse cardiovascular outcomes, confounding by other risk factors or by disease severity is difficult to exclude.