Depression and mortality in elderly hypertensive patients

January 01, 0001

Depression and mortality in elderly hypertensive patients

Depression is common in geriatric patients, and has been linked with increases in cardivascular mortality in some patient populations. These British and Brazilian researches tested whether there was a link between depression and mortality among participants in the Hypertension in the Very Elderly Trial (HYVET). The enrollees completed the Geriatric Depression Score (GDS) at baseline and annually. Cox proportional hazards models examined association between GDS score and stroke, mortality and dementia.

The researchers report: "2,656 HYVET participants completed the GDS. The mean follow-up was 2.1 years. A GDS score =6 was associated with increased risks of all-cause (HR 1.8) and cardiovascular mortality (HR 2.10), all stroke (HR 1.8) and all cardiovascular events (HR 1.6). Risk of incident dementia also tended to be increased (HR 1.28). Each additional GDS point at baseline also gave rise to a significantly increased risk of fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events, all-cause mortality and dementia."

The researchers concluded: "there was a strong association between baseline depression scores and later fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular endpoints over a mean follow-up of 2 years in a hypertensive very elderly group. The mechanism of this association warrants further study."

This study finds evidence of a link between depression and cardiovascular mortality in elderly hypertensive patients, warranting further study.

For the full abstract, click here.

Age and Ageing 39(4):439-445, July 2010 © 2010 the Author
Association of depression with subsequent mortality, cardiovascular morbidity and incident dementia in people aged 80 and over and suffering from hypertension. Data from the Hypertension in the Very Elderly Trial (HYVET). Ruth Peters, Elisabete Pinto, Nigel Beckett, et al. Correspondence to Ruth Peters: [email protected]

Category: K. Circulatory, P. Psychological. Keywords: hypertension, depression, elderly, cardiovascular events, HYVET, observational study, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Paul Schaefer, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 16 July 2010

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.