Posted by ed_uk on November 20, 2006, at 15:18:45
"Depression, but not antidepressant use, is associated with increased mortality in patients with heart failure, a prospective study has indicated.
Researchers from Duke University Medical Centre, North Carolina, collected data from over 1,000 patients admitted to hospital with heart failure between March 1997 and June 2003. The patients were followed up for an average of two years and seven months.
During follow up, 42.7 per cent of the patients died. Overall, antidepressant use was associated with increased mortality (hazard ratio, 1.32; 95 per cent confidence interval, 1.031.69, P=0.029). However, the association disappeared after controlling for the presence of depression (1.20, 0.841.71).
Study author Wei Jiang said: It can be impractical to make sure every patient with heart failure sees a psychiatrist. That is why it is so important to improve the knowledge and confidence of non-psychiatric professionals for care of depression.
The data were presented earlier this week at the annual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association held in Chicago."
poster:ed_uk
thread:705564
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061117/msgs/705564.html