Abstract
The association of psychological factors with the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) has been reported before. However, few studies have evaluated whether psychological factors are associated with increased risk of CVD in adolescents with longitudinal design. Our hypothesis is that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression may increase the risk of CVD by changing its risk factors in adolescents. A total of 746 students at a high school 10 km away from the epicenter of Wenchuan earthquake were enrolled 6 months after the earthquake, and was followed up at 18 months. A total of 737 (98.8%) students completed the study 6 months after the earthquake. In the 18-month follow-up, 478 (64.1%) students completed the study. PTSD was assessed using PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used to assess depression. Fasting blood samples were collected. Serum variables of lipid and glucose metabolism were analyzed. The prevalences of PTSD symptoms were 10.6% and 1.9% at 6- and 18-month follow-up respectively. At 6- and 18-month follow-up, 40.7% and 30.3% of the students were found to have depression. The subjects with PTSD had significantly higher BMI ( p <0.05), WHR ( p <0.05) and triglyceride (TG) ( p <0.05) than subjects with no PTSD 6 months after the earthquake. The boy subjects with PTSD had significantly higher BMI ( p <0.05) than boy subjects with no PTSD. The girl subjects with PTSD had significantly higher BMI ( p <0.05) and WHR ( p <0.05) than girl subjects with no PTSD. In the 18-month follow-up study, the boy subjects with PTSD had significantly lower WHR ( p <0.05) than boy subjects with no PTSD. Six months after the earthquake, subjects with depression had significantly higher BMI ( p <0.05) and WHR ( p <0.05) than subjects with no depression. The boy subjects with depression had significantly higher WHR ( p <0.05) than boy subjects with no depression. The girl subjects with depression had significantly lower total cholesterol (TC) ( p <0.05) than girl subjects with no depression. In the 18-month follow-up study, subjects with depression had significantly lower HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) ( p <0.05) than subjects with no depression. The boy subjects with depression had significantly higher systolic pressure ( p <0.05), higher LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) ( p <0.05) but lower HDL-C ( p <0.05) than boy subjects with no depression. The girl subjects with depression had significantly lower systolic pressure ( p <0.05) and HDL-C ( p <0.05) than girl subjects with no depression. These findings provide preliminary evidence linking of PTSD and depression symptoms with risk factors for CVD in adolescents.
Published Version
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