• Wen-Yu Hsu, Hui-Ju Tsai, Shu-Han Yu, Chih-Cheng Hsu, Yu-Ting Tsai, Han-Yun Tzeng, I-Ching Lin, Kiang Liu, Marion M Lee, Nan-Ying Chiu, and Chao A Hsiung.
• Department of Psychiatry, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua Department of Psychiatry, Lu-Tung Christian Hospital, Lukang School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University Institute of Clinical Medical Science, China Medical University, Taichung Center for Aging and Health, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli, Taiwan Department of Pediatrics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL Department of Public Health, China Medical University Aesthetic-Mind Clinic Department of Psychiatry, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung Department of Family Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua Department of Healthcare Administration, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan Department of Preventive Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2016 Aug 1; 95 (31): e4419e4419.

AbstractThe objective of this study was to examine the association of depression, psychotropic medications, and mental illness with cardiovascular disease in a nationwide community-dwelling elderly population in Taiwan. A total of 5664 participants who enrolled in the Healthy Aging Longitudinal Study in Taiwan (HALST) were included in the study. Multiple logistic regression was applied to investigate the association of depression, psychotropic medication use, and mental illness, separately, with cardiovascular disease. The results suggested that cardiovascular disease was significantly associated with various definitions of depression, including: the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) ≥ 16, self-reported, and physician-diagnosed for depression (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.51; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14-2.00 for CES-D; AOR = 3.29; 95% CI: 1.99-5.42 for self-reported; and AOR = 2.45; 95% CI: 1.51-3.97 for physician-diagnosed). Additionally, significant associations of cardiovascular disease with the use of antipsychotics (AOR = 2.04; 95% CI: 1.25-3.34), benzodiazepines (BZDs) (AOR = 1.84; 95% CI: 1.52-2.21), and Z-drugs (AOR = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.03-1.93), respectively, were also observed, but not the use of antidepressants. In addition, a significant association of cardiovascular disease with mental illness was found in this study (AOR = 2.33; 95% CI: 1.68-3.24). In line with previous reports, these findings provided supportive evidence that depression and/or mental illness were significantly associated with cardiovascular disease in a community-dwelling elderly population in Taiwan. Moreover, significant associations of cardiovascular disease with the use of antipsychotics, BZDs, and Z-drugs, individually, were found. Further investigation would be of importance to clarify the causal relationship of depression and/or psychotropic medications with cardiovascular disease, especially among elderly populations.

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