Canada Journal – News of the World Articles and videos to bring you the biggest Canadian news stories from across the country every day
A new study suggests women are more likely than men to suffer anxiety and depression after a heart attack.
According to the authors of the new study, which was led by Pranas Serpytis, PhD, MD, of Vilnius University Hospital in Lithuania, many heart attack patients report symptoms of depression, which can, in turn, hinder a patient’s ability to heal.
To explore the mental health of patients who had recently had a myocardial infarction — a heart attack — Dr. Serpytis and team looked at 160 people admitted to a number of different health centers, including a university clinic and a cardiology center. The patients were interviewed at least a month after having a heart attack. The patients were 67 years old on average, and 63.1 percent were men.
The study authors assessed patients’ mental health using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, which measures depression and anxiety on a score from 0 to 11, with a lower score (0 to 7) representing no depression or anxiety, a mid-range score (8 to 10) representing possible issues with depression or anxiety, and a higher score (11 or higher) representing definite depression or anxiety.
Dr. Serpytis and team found that 24.4 percent of the heart attack patients (39 patients) had increased depression levels.
Increased depression and anxiety levels were more common among women. The average depression score after a heart attack was 8.66 for women — compared to 6.87 for men. The average anxiety score was 7.18 for men and 8.2 for women.
The study authors also found evidence that smoking was tied to anxiety but not depression. Of the 15.6 percent of patients who were smokers, the average anxiety score was 10.16 — compared to 7.3 in nonsmokers.
Over half of the patients were men. Further research is needed to confirm the findings and better understand mental health following a heart attack, the authors noted.
Agencies/Canadajournal
