Increased risk exceeds the risk of either condition alone in years following a heart attack
MONDAY, Feb. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Having both diabetes and depression significantly increases the risk of dying in the years following a heart attack, beyond the increased risk from either condition alone, according to a study published in the March issue of Diabetes Care.
Mariska Bot, from Tilburg University in the Netherlands, and colleagues analyzed data from two multicenter cohort studies, including 2,704 patients who were hospitalized for myocardial infarction. Diabetes and depression (defined as a Beck Depression Inventory score ≥10) were evaluated during hospitalization. Mortality data were available for 2,525 patients, who were followed for an average of 6.2 years.
The researchers found that, during follow-up, 439 patients died. The mortality rate was 14 percent for patients without diabetes and depression, and was 23, 22, and 47 percent for those with diabetes only, depression only, and both diabetes and depression, respectively. After adjusting for other variables, the hazard ratios for all-cause mortality were 1.38 for patients with diabetes only, 1.39 for those with depression only, and 2.90 for patients with both diabetes and depression.
"We observed an increased mortality risk in post-myocardial infarction patients with both diabetes and depression, beyond the association with mortality of diabetes and depression alone," the authors write.
One of the multicenter cohort studies was funded by the pharmaceutical industry.
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