Depressive symptoms in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) predict adverse outcomes regarding e.g. cardiovascular complications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Although diagnosed arterial hypertension and antihypertensive medication usually have an adverse impact on quality of life, recent studies suggest that actual blood pressure may be positively related to better well-being. However, data in older patients with cardiovascular risk factors are lacking, for whom such an association may be of particular relevance.
Methods: In 1300 adults aged 50 to 85 years with cardiovascular risk factors (51.
Unlabelled: Low socio-economic status (SES) has been associated with an increased coronary risk in Western countries. All stress experiences are more pronounced in low SES patients with stress emanating from problems with family, job, or money. The SPIRR-CAD study offered an excellent opportunity to examine these risk factors in German speaking mildly and medium depressed patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Depression predicts adverse prognosis in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), but previous treatment trials yielded mixed results. We tested the hypothesis that stepwise psychotherapy improves depressive symptoms more than simple information.
Methods: In a multicenter trial, we randomized 570 CAD patients scoring higher than 7 on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-depression subscale to usual care plus either one information session (UC-IS) or stepwise psychotherapy (UC-PT).