Patients hospitalized for cardiovascular disease have an increased risk of psychiatric disorders and suicide attempts, according to a study published July 31 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Researchers in China compiled UK Biobank and hospital inpatient data for 63,923 patients ages 40-69 who were hospitalized with CVD between January 1997 and January 2020. The study included only patients who did not have a history of psychiatric disorders or suicide attempt before their cardiovascular disease diagnosis.
The UK Biobank is a community‐based cohort study that collected information between 2006 and 2010 from more than 500,000 participants ages 40-69 across the United Kingdom.
The study's 63,923 participants were then matched on a 1 to 2 ratio to 127,845 demographically similar individuals from the data who had no history of cardiovascular disease, psychiatric disorders or suicide attempt at the time of study participants' CVD diagnosis and hospitalization.
Researchers found an increased risk for psychiatric disorders and suicide attempt among cardiovascular disease patients both within one year (1.83) and after one year (1.24) following CVD hospitalization, compared with matched individuals.
One limitation of the study was that a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease might lead to diagnoses of previously present psychological conditions because the patient began engaging with a health system, researchers said.
Authors of the study highlighted the important role cardiologists play "in the psychiatric-psychological attention of patients with CVD," and said cardiologists should encourage patients to achieve a better quality of life post-diagnosis.