Association of depressive symptoms and cardiovascular health with mortality among U.S. adults.

Background: Depression and cardiovascular health (CVH) are interconnected, and both are independently associated with mortality. However, the joint effects of depressive symptoms and CVH on mortality remain unclear.

Methods: By utilizing the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-2018, we included 18,679 adults aged ≥20 years without cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The definition of elevated depressive symptoms was based on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scores≥10. CVH was evaluated by Life's Essential 8 (LE8) and categorized into low (<50), moderate (50-80), or high (≥80). The joint association of depressive symptoms and CVH with mortality was examined utilizing multivariate Cox proportional hazard models.

Results: Elevated depressive symptoms were associated with higher mortality risks, and CVH could explain 12.7 % and 13.7 % of the associations between depression and all-cause and non-CVD mortality, respectively. No significant interactions were found between CVH and depressive symptoms on mortality. High CVH attenuated the all-cause mortality risk in patients with elevated depressive symptoms (HR, 0.20; 95 % CI: 0.05-0.89). Compared to participants with elevated depressive symptoms and low CVH, those with no elevated depressive symptoms and high CVH had lower risks of all-cause (HR, 0.26; 95 % CI: 0.16-0.43), CVD (HR, 0.20; 95 % CI: 0.07-0.52), non-CVD mortality (HR, 0.28; 95 % CI 0.16-0.50).

Conclusion: Adults with low CVH and elevated depressive symptoms had significantly higher risks of all-cause, CVD, and non-CVD mortality. The finding suggests considering depressive symptoms and CVH jointly in developing targeted strategies to improve survival.