Gender Differences in Self-Reported Symptoms of Depression among Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome

Lorraine Frazier,Erica Yu,Roberta C Bogaev,Stanley Cron,Malini Udtha,Jennifer Sanner,Fang Liu,Stephanie Coulter

doi:10.1155/2012/109251

Abstract

This study examined the prevalence of self-reported depressive symptoms and the self reported somatic depressive symptoms as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) among patients hospitalized for acute coronary syndrome (ACS), and explored the impact of gender on both. A convenience sample of 789 adults (248 women and 541 men) was recruited for the study during hospital admission for ACS and participants were screened for self-reported depressive symptoms. BDI-II scores of ≥14 indicate a moderate level of depressive symptoms and this cut-off score was used to categorize patients into depressed and non-depressed groups. Pearson chi-square tests for independence (categorical variables) and t tests for independent samples (continuous variables) were used for gender comparisons. Results showed that depressive symptoms during ACS episodes were different between women and men. Women reported greater overall depressive symptoms (BDI-II mean = 11.89, S.D. = 9.68) than men (BDI-II mean = 9.00, S.D. = 7.93) (P < 0.000). Significantly more women (7.66%) were identified positive for somatic depressive symptoms (sleep and appetite disturbances and fatigue) than men (2.22%) (P = 0.0003). Findings support that there are gender differences in depressive symptoms experienced by patients hospitalized for ACS. Somatic symptoms of depression may be important indicators of depression especially among female ACS patients.

Highlights

Each year 2.4 million Americans are hospitalized for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) [1]
The purpose of this study was to examine the gender differences and prevalence of selfreported depressive symptoms and self-reported somatic depressive symptoms, as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) [20], in patients hospitalized for ACS
The sample consisted of 789 adult (248 females and 541 males) patients admitted with ACS (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Each year 2.4 million Americans are hospitalized for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) [1]. An estimated 7.5 million females live with a history of ACS [1] and up to 47% of females report symptoms of depression when screened for depression during hospitalization for ACS [6]. Depression is the most common mental illness in females and females have twice the risk of major depressive disorder (MDD) as compared with males [7, 8]. Data from National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) supports the gender difference life time risk for MDD (21% in females and 13% in males) [9]. Population studies from Canada [10], Germany [11], and Switzerland [12] all report that females are at least twice as likely as males to suffer from MDD. In addition to the gender difference in prevalence of depression episodes, the depression symptoms that differ between males and females are heterogeneous with complex clusters of depressive symptoms [13, 14]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion