Background
Depression is suggested to be associated with cardiovascular disease, including ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease. This study investigated the impact of depression on cardiovascular disease in the elderly population in Korea.
Methods
This retrospective cohort study was performed using the Senior Cohort database released by the Korean National Health Insurance Services from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2012, or January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2013. The study group constituted participants newly diagnosed with depression, but not cardiovascular disease. The control group constituted participants with no past history of depression or cardiovascular disease, and were not diagnosed with depression during the follow-up period. During the 5-year follow-up period, development of ischemic heart disease or cerebrovascular disease was assessed. Depression and cardiovascular disease were identified using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, Clinical Modification codes. The data was analyzed using Cox proportional hazards model.
Results
The hazard ratio (HR) between depression and ischemic heart disease was 1.38 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.23 to 1.55) and the HR between depression and cerebrovascular disease was 1.46 (95% CI, 1.32 to 1.62), after adjusting all confounding variables.
Conclusion
Independent of other cardiovascular risk factors, depression increased the risk of ischemic heart disease by 38% and cerebrovascular disease by 46% among older adults in Korea. Since depression may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, future research should focus on the diagnosis and prevention of cardiovascular disease in people with depression.

Citations

• The effect of scutellaria baicalensis and its active ingredients on major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis of literature in pre-clinical research
  Ying Ma, Xun Zhou, Feng Zhang, Cuiyun Huang, Hong Yang, Wansheng Chen, Xia Tao
  Frontiers in Pharmacology.2024;[Epub]     CrossRef
• A Potential Role for MAGI-1 in the Bi-Directional Relationship Between Major Depressive Disorder and Cardiovascular Disease
  Priyanka Banerjee, Khanh Chau, Sivareddy Kotla, Eleanor L. Davis, Estefani Berrios Turcios, Shengyu Li, Zhang Pengzhi, Guangyu Wang, Gopi Krishna Kolluru, Abhishek Jain, John P. Cooke, Junichi Abe, Nhat-Tu Le
  Current Atherosclerosis Reports.2024; 26(9): 463.     CrossRef
• The Connection Between Depression and Ischemic Heart Disease: Analyzing Demographic Characteristics, Risk Factors, Symptoms, and Treatment Approaches to Identify Their Relationship
  Laura Ioana Bondar, Brigitte Osser, Gyongyi Osser, Mariana Adelina Mariș, Ligia Elisaveta Piroș, Robert Almășan, Csongor Toth, Caius Calin Miuta, Gabriel Roberto Marconi, Ana-Liana Bouroș-Tataru, Victor Măduța, Dana Tăședan, Mircea Ioachim Popescu
  Clinics and Practice.2024; 14(5): 2166.     CrossRef
• Psycho-Cardiological Disease: A Bibliometric Review From 2001 to 2021
  Yaping You, Xintian Shou, Xuesong Zhang, Shaowei Fan, Ruoning Chai, Wenjing Xue, Yuanhui Hu, Qingyong He
  Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine.2022;[Epub]     CrossRef
• A comprehensive review on bioavailability, safety and antidepressant potential of natural bioactive components from tea
  Jie Shao, Yang Wei, Xinlin Wei
  Food Research International.2022; 158: 111540.     CrossRef

Background
: Electricardiographic variables such as changes in the ST-T segment, and increased QT interval have been found to predict the occurrence of myocardial ischemia, But disadvantages of most of these variables have poor reproducibility and require analysis of all ECG leads. If electrocardiographic T axis properly predicts myocardial ischemia, it can be used as a useful marker for diagnosing myocardial ischemia in primary practice.

Methods : We selected 147 persons, who visited the emergency room or an outpatient clinic because of chest pain, in whom coronary angiography was performed. We reviewed their medical records. Electrocardiographic T axis was classified as normal, borderline and abnormal T axis. We identified the relation between cardiovascular risk factors and electrocardiographic T axis, and also, the relation between ischemic electrocardiographic variables and T axis, We examined the relation between coronary angiographic results and electrocardiographic T axis.

Results : The sensitivity and specificity of electrocardiographic T axis was 26.7% and 86.9%, respectively. The positive predictive value and negative predictive value was 81.8% and 35.1%, respectively. The proportion of hypertension was 41.2% in normal T axis group, 65.5% in borderline T axis group, and 34.4% in abnormal T axis group, which was statistically significant(P=0.032). The relation between coronary angiographic results and electrocardiographic T axis was not statistically significant. The subjects with abnormal T axis were associated with ST depression (P=0.016).

Conclusion : The T axis abnormality was not useful for screening myocardial ischemia, but it was useful to rule out other diseases due to its high specificity.