Treating Depression in Coronary Patients to Enhance Vocational Functioning

Abstract

In recent decades, there has been an increasing interest in the relationship between cardiovascular disease (CVD) and depression. Not only has depression emerged as a robust risk factor for CVD onset [1], but depression is common in patients who have experienced a heart event. Evidence suggests that approximately 15% of Myocardial Infarction (MI) patients experience major depression, with another 1520% reporting mild to moderate depressive symptoms [2]. Indeed, MI patients with depression are at increased risk of mortality [3], morbidity and suicide [4]. These patients have also been shown to experience impaired health related quality of life (HRQOL) [5] and poorer CVD risk factor profiles, medication adherence [6], health service utilisation [7] and work outcomes [8]. In fact, depression has also been shown to predict negative return to work outcomes [9], productivity and absenteeism in cardiac populations.