Sex differences in the associations between blood pressure and anxiety and depression scores in a middle-aged and elderly population: The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA)

Associations between depressive, anxiety, stress symptoms and elevated blood pressure: Findings from the CHCN-BTH cohort study and a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis

BACKGROUND

We aimed to determine whether depressive, anxiety, stress symptoms were associated with the risk of elevated blood pressure by performing longitudinal cohort and Mendelian Randomization (MR) analyses.

METHODS

We used data from the Cohort Study on Chronic Disease of Community Natural Population in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (CHCN-BTH) from 2017 to 2021. The Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale was used to evaluate the depressive, anxiety, stress symptoms. The longitudinal associations between depressive, anxiety, stress symptoms and elevated blood pressure were estimated using Cox proportional regression models. Two-sample MR analysis was performed using the Inverse-variance weighted (IVW), weighted median, and MR-Egger to explore the causal relationships between depressive, anxiety, stress symptoms and elevated blood pressure.

RESULTS

In total, 5624 participants were included. The risk of SBP ≥ 140 mmHg or DBP ≥ 90 mmHg was significantly higher in participants with baseline anxiety symptoms (HR = 1.48, 95 % CI: 1.03 to 2.12, P = 0.033; HR = 1.56, 95 % CI: 1.05 to 2.32, P = 0.028), especially in men and individuals with higher educational levels, independent of baseline depression and anxiety at the two-year follow-up. The two-sample MR analysis showed positive associations between depressive, anxiety, stress symptoms and elevated blood pressure.

LIMITATION

Self-reported mental health symptoms, relatively shorter follow-up duration and the European-derived genome-wide association study data for MR analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

Anxiety symptoms were positively associated with elevated blood pressures in the longitudinal analysis independent of depression, stress, and other confounders. The results were verified in MR analysis, providing evidence for causal effects of anxiety symptoms on the risk of elevated blood pressure.

Life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, and blood pressure in the middle-aged and older Chinese population

OBJECTIVE

Both life satisfaction and depressive symptoms have been proven to be related to blood pressure (BP) separately. This longitudinal study aimed to examine whether these two distinct but related psychological constructs are independent predictors of BP in the middle-aged and older Chinese population.

METHODS

This study used two waves of data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) and the analysis were restricted to those respondents aged 45 and older without hypertension and other cardiometabolic conditions [n = 4055, mean age (SD) = 56.7 (8.3); male, 50.1%]. Multiple linear regression models were used to evaluate the associations between baseline life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, and systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at follow-up.

RESULTS

Life satisfaction was positively associated with SBP (β = 0.03, p = .03), while depressive symptoms were negatively associated with both SBP (β = -0.04, p = .003) and DBP (β = -0.04, p = .004) at follow-up. The associations for life satisfaction became insignificant when all the covariates including depressive symptoms were taken into account. In contrast, the associations for depressive symptoms remained even after controlling for all the covariates including life satisfaction (SBP: β = -0.04, p = .02; DBP: β = -0.04, p = .01).

CONCLUSION

The results implied that depressive symptoms, rather than life satisfaction, independently predicted BP changes in the Chinese population after four years. These findings expand our knowledge about the association patterns of depressive symptoms and life satisfaction with BP.

Longitudinal association between cardiovascular risk factors and depression in young people: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies

BACKGROUND

Depression is a common and serious mental illness that begins early in life. An association between cardiovascular disease (CVD) and subsequent depression is clear in adults. We examined associations between individual CVD risk factors and depression in young people.

METHODS

We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO databases from inception to 1 January 2020. We extracted data from cohort studies assessing the longitudinal association between CVD risk factors [body mass index (BMI), smoking, systolic blood pressure (SBP), total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein] and depression, measured using a validated tool in individuals with mean age of 24 years or younger. Random effect meta-analysis was used to combine effect estimates from individual studies, including odds ratio (OR) for depression and standardised mean difference for depressive symptoms.

RESULTS

Based on meta-analysis of seven studies, comprising 15 753 participants, high BMI was associated with subsequent depression [pooled OR 1.61; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.21-2.14; I2 = 31%]. Based on meta-analysis of eight studies, comprising 30 539 participants, smoking was associated with subsequent depression (pooled OR 1.73; 95% CI 1.36-2.20; I2 = 74%). Low, but not high, SBP was associated with an increased risk of depression (pooled OR 3.32; 95% CI 1.68-6.55; I2 = 0%), although this was based on a small pooled high-risk sample of 893 participants. Generalisability may be limited as most studies were based in North America or Europe.

CONCLUSIONS

Targeting childhood/adolescent smoking and obesity may be important for the prevention of both CVD and depression across the lifespan. Further research on other CVD risk factors including blood pressure and cholesterol in young people is required.

Evaluation of depression status and its influencing factors in convalescent elderly patients with first-episode stroke

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the occurrence and the influencing factors of post-stroke depression (PSD) in first-episode stroke.

METHODS

A total of 350 elderly stroke patients who were admitted to Wuxi Central Rehabilitation Hospital for the first time from January 2020 to December 2020 were enrolled in this study. The Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) was used to evaluate the depression status of stroke patients. The sociodemographic data, clinical symptoms, social environment and behavioral patterns of the patients were collected to analyze the related factors of depression after stroke through SPSS 20.0 software.

RESULTS

The incidence of PSD was 45.71%. There were statistical differences among different gender, lesion nature, lesion location, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, hospitalization enpenses, season of onset, BMI index, NIHSS score, barthel index score, blood pressure variation coefficient and other factors (p = 0.000). Post-stroke depression score was positively correlated with NIHSS score and coefficient of variation of systolic blood pressure (r = 0.935, p = 0.000; r = 0.921, p = 0.000), and negatively correlated with barthel index score (r = -0.964, p = 0.000). Through multivariate Logistic regression analysis, it was found that male (OR=8.624, 95%CI: 5.672-11.715), cerebral infarction (OR=2.561, 95%CI: 1.256-3.567), and the right side lesion (OR=1.933, 95%CI: 1.024-3.026), smoking (OR=2.457, 95%CI: 1.611-3.625), onset in autumn and winter (OR=2.049, 95%CI: 1.201-2.919), high BMI (OR=2.461, 95%CI): 1.426-3.432) were risk factors for depression after stroke, and low SBPV (OR=0.567, 95%CI: 0.352-0.758) and low NISHH score (OR=0.256, 95%CI: 0.105-0.486) were the protective factor for subsequent depression of stroke.

CONCLUSION

Males, smoking, patients with onset in autumn and winter, lesions on the right side, high BMI, high NISHH score and high systolic blood pressure variation were closely related to PSD, which should be paid for attention for such patients to prevent the occurrence of PSD and take intervention measures.

Anxiety disorders and age-related changes in physiology

BACKGROUND

Anxiety disorders are leading contributors to the global disease burden, highly prevalent across the lifespan and associated with substantially increased morbidity and early mortality.

AIMS

The aim of this study was to examine age-related changes across a wide range of physiological measures in middle-aged and older adults with a lifetime history of anxiety disorders compared with healthy controls.

METHOD

The UK Biobank study recruited >500 000 adults, aged 37-73, between 2006 and 2010. We used generalised additive models to estimate non-linear associations between age and hand-grip strength, cardiovascular function, body composition, lung function and heel bone mineral density in a case group and in a control group.

RESULTS

The main data-set included 332 078 adults (mean age 56.37 years; 52.65% females). In both sexes, individuals with anxiety disorders had a lower hand-grip strength and lower blood pressure, whereas their pulse rate and body composition measures were higher than in the healthy control group. Case-control group differences were larger when considering individuals with chronic and/or severe anxiety disorders, and differences in body composition were modulated by depression comorbidity status. Differences in age-related physiological changes between females in the anxiety disorder case group and healthy controls were most evident for blood pressure, pulse rate and body composition, whereas this was the case in males for hand-grip strength, blood pressure and body composition. Most differences in physiological measures between the case and control groups decreased with increasing age.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings in individuals with a lifetime history of anxiety disorders differed from a healthy control group across multiple physiological measures, with some evidence of case-control group differences by age. The differences observed varied by chronicity/severity and depression comorbidity.

Considering Psychosocial Factors When Investigating Blood Pressure in Patients with Short Sleep Duration: A Propensity Score Matched Analysis

Few studies have considered psychosocial characteristics when investigating the associations between sleep duration and blood pressure (BP). In this study, we took propensity score matching (PSM) to adjust for psychosocial characteristics when comparing BP between individuals with short sleep duration and those with normal sleep duration. A total of 429 participants were included. 72 participants with sleep duration ≤6 h and 65 participants with sleep duration >6 h were matched after PSM. We compared office BP, 24-hour BP, and prevalence of hypertension in the populations before and after PSM, respectively. In the unmatched population, participants with sleep duration ≤6 h were observed with higher office diastolic BP (DBP) and 24-h systolic BP (SBP)/DBP (all P < 0.05). In the matched populations, the differences between the two groups (sleep duration ≤6 h vs. sleep duration >6 h) in office DBP (88.4 ± 10.9 vs. 82.5 ± 11.1 mm Hg; P=0.002), 24-h SBP (134.7 ± 12.0 vs. 129.3 ± 11.6 mm Hg; P=0.009), and 24-h DBP (83.4 ± 9.9 vs. 78.1 ± 10.1 mm Hg; P=0.002) become more significant. Participants with sleep duration ≤6 h only show higher prevalence of hypertension based on 24-h BP data, while analysis after PSM further revealed that these with sleep duration ≤6 h presented about 20% higher prevalence of elevated BP up to office diagnosed hypertension threshold. Therefore, psychosocial characteristics accompanied with short sleep duration should be fully valued in individuals at risks for elevated BP. This trial is registered with NCT03866226.

The Onset of Depression in Middle-Aged Presumed Healthy Slovenian Family Practice Attendees and Its Associations with Genetic Risk Assessment, Quality of Life and Health Status: A Contribution for Family Medicine Practitioners' Early Detection

Despite depression being a major driver of morbidity and mortality, the majority of primary care patients remain undiagnosed, so this study aimed to assess the prevalence of depression and the association with demographic and clinical variables, genetic risk, and quality of life. The participants were presumably healthy model family medicine practice (MFMP) attendees between 30 and 65 years of age and recruited during a preventive check-up in 2019. Each of the 40 pre-selected MFMP pragmatically invited 30 attendees to voluntarily participate. They completed a questionnaire of demographic, clinical, and social determinants, as well as a three-generational family history. The results were analyzed using multivariable modelling to calculate the associations with signs of depression. A modified Scheuner method was used to calculate the level genetic risk level using family history. Of 968 participants, aged 42.8 ± 8.6 years, 627 (64.8%) were women. The prevalence of depression was 4.1%. Signs of depression were negatively associated with health-related quality of life score, in particular in the domains of self-care (p = 0.001) and anxiety/depression (p < 0.001). Depression was also associated with predicted high risk for comorbidities given the family history (p = 0.030). Primary care directed at improving patients’ quality of life should implement more widespread screening for mental health disorders. Family history for disease even beyond depression can be used by physicians as an important primary prevention tool.

Increased Levels of Serum Glycosylated Hemoglobin are Associated with Depressive Symptoms in a Population with Cancer (≥49 Years): An Antidepressant-Stratified Analysis

Purpose

Patients with cancer tend to have a high prevalence of depressive symptoms. The direct relationship between serum glycosylated hemoglobin (GHb) levels and depressive symptoms in cancer patients is still uncertain. We aimed to evaluate the association with serum GHb levels with depressive symptoms in the population (aged ≥49 years) with cancer.

Patients and Methods

Longitudinal data in 204 participants with cancer obtained from The Irish LongituDinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) were used to investigate the association of serum GHb levels with depressive symptoms.

Results

Our results suggested a positive and significant association between serum GHb levels and depression score, independent of age, gender, body mass index (BMI), currently married, education, smoking status, drink alcohol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP), physical activity, self-reported cardiovascular diseases and laboratory measurement in participants with cancer (coefficient =0.141, P<0.001; Model 2) at baseline (wave 1). Higher GHb levels did associate with higher prevalence of depressive symptoms in participants with cancer (OR=2.100, 95% CI 1.105–5.036, P=0.004; Model 2) after adjustment for these same confounding factors in wave 1 was made. Stratified analysis further showed that these significant associations were interfered by antidepressants. Sensitivity analysis showed that higher serum GHb levels in subjects with cancer were linked to higher prevalence of depression events during a follow-up of 4 years.

Conclusion

Our results found a significant association between elevated serum GHb levels and increased risk of depressive symptoms in the population aged ≥49 years with cancer after confounding factors were adjusted.

Relationship Between Serum Fibrinogen Level and Depressive Symptoms in an Adult Population with Spinal Cord Injury: A Cross-Sectional Study

PURPOSE

Depression is associated with an inflammatory immune response. There are minimal data regarding the association of inflammatory markers with depression in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). We aimed to investigate the association of inflammatory markers with depression in middle-aged and elderly SCI patients.

METHODS

Data were obtained from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study, a longitudinal study of a representative sample of the adult population. We analyzed the associations of serum levels of fibrinogen, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-ɑ, and C-reactive protein with depressive symptoms.

RESULTS

The median participant age was 52.5 years; 44.9% of participants were men. Multivariate linear regression analyses showed that an increased serum fibrinogen level (Sβ = 0.114, p = 0.005) was associated with higher Centre for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) scores after adjustment for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), ethnicity, education, marital status, smoking, alcohol use, exercise, perceived stress score, and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that an increased serum fibrinogen level was independently associated with a history of depression (odds ratio [OR] = 1.240, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.103-1.997, p = 0.012) and depressive symptoms (OR = 1.884, 95% CI = 1.165-2.499, p < 0.001; CES-D score ≥ 16) after adjustment for confounding factors. Stratified analysis revealed that the association between serum fibrinogen level and depressive symptoms was affected by antidepressant use.

CONCLUSION

Serum fibrinogen level had a significantly positive association with depressive symptoms in middle-aged and elderly patients with SCI. Future longitudinal cohort studies should evaluate the possible use of serum fibrinogen for diagnosis of depression in SCI patients.

Serum Human Epididymal Protein 4 is Associated with Depressive Symptoms in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Background

Previous studies have suggested that patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have a higher incidence of depression and an increased risk of developing various depression-related complications. We aimed to elucidate the association between the serum human epididymal protein 4 (HE4) level and depressive symptoms in patients with COPD.

Methods

The data on 219 participants with COPD from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) were analyzed for the association between serum HE4 levels and depressive symptoms, accounting for relevant confounding factors. All the COPD participants were prospectively followed up for a median period of 48 months. Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to evaluate the predictive value of serum HE4 for predicting depression events in these COPD patients.

Results

Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that serum HE4 was independently associated with the depression score after adjusting for age, sex, BMI, current smoking status, current drinking status, admission systolic and diastolic BP, CVD history and laboratory measurements in patients with COPD at baseline (Sβ= 0.149; 95% CI, 0.069–0.201; P<0.001). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis revealed that serum HE4 (HR=2.216, 95% CI 1.691–5.109, P<0.001) was an independent prognostic factor for depression events in these COPD patients.

Conclusion

Our results showed that serum HE4 is significantly and independently associated with depression events. Serum HE4 may enable the early recognition of depressive symptoms among COPD patients.

Depression and Perceived Stress, but Not Anxiety, are Associated with Elevated Inflammation in an Obese Adult Population

BACKGROUND

Anxiety, depression and perceived stress are risk factors for adverse health problems. Inflammation participates in the development of chronic diseases such as psychiatric disorders. This study explored the relationships between inflammatory biomarkers and depression, anxiety and perceived stress in an obese adult population.

METHODS

The relationships between psychological scores and inflammatory markers were analyzed.

RESULTS

A higher BMI was not correlated with a higher anxiety score (P=0.152); however, BMI was positively associated with a higher depression score (P<0.001) and a higher perceived stress score (P<0.001). Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that in participants with BMI≥30 and 25≤BMI<30, depression and perceived stress were significantly and independently associated with ICAM-1, E-selectin and CRP, but these associations were not observed in participants with BMI<25. The anxiety score was not associated with any inflammatory marker in any group of subjects, as determined by multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSION

Depression and perceived stress were strongly associated with increased serum levels of pro-inflammatory markers, including ICAM-1, E-selectin and CRP, among a general obese population from the United States. These results further suggest that depression and perceived stress might also be chronic systemic inflammatory diseases.

Increased Blood Lipid Level is Associated with Cancer-Specific Mortality and All-Cause Mortality in Patients with Colorectal Cancer (≥65 Years): A Population-Based Prospective Cohort Study

Background

Hyperlipidaemia is related to the development of many cancers. The aim of this study was to explore whether blood lipid levels were associated with increased rates of cancer-specific mortality and all-cause mortality in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

Methods

Data on 8504 participants from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) were analysed. A total of 304 participants with CRC who had experienced curative surgery were included. Logistic regression analysis was performed to analyse the relationship between blood lipid levels and CRC severity. Cox regression analysis was performed to assess the association between blood lipid levels and cancer-specific mortality and all-cause mortality in patients with CRC.

Results

In 304 patients with CRC, the average age was 67.8±5.4 years. The logistic regression analysis indicated that elevated levels of total cholesterol (2.104 [1.358–3.650]; P-trend<0.001), triglycerides (1.665 [1.337–2.076]; P-trend=0.005) and LDL (2.127 [1.446–4.099]; P-trend<0.001) but not HDL (0.688 [0.409–1.252]; P-trend=0.124) were associated with an increased risk of higher CRC stage after adjustments were made for age, sex, marital status, BMI, drinking status, smoking status, education, physical activity, antilipidaemic medications and self-reported CVDs (≥2). Cox proportional hazard analysis showed that higher blood lipid levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL were independently associated with higher rates of cancer-specific mortality and all-cause mortality. Similar results persisted in the sensitivity analysis using antilipidaemic medications as an additional covariate and the stratification analysis using antilipidaemic medications as a stratified variable.

Conclusion

Increased blood lipid levels were associated with an increased risk of cancer-specific mortality and all-cause mortality in patients with CRC after adjusting for potential confounding factors. Clinicians should pay more attention to the prognostic value of increased blood lipids in patients with CRC for the risk of death.