Patients suffering from heart disease as well as from depression are at an increased risk of suffering from another adverse heart event. Hence the American Heart Association (AHA) has called for depression screening in heart patients.
The American Psychiatric Association has also endorsed these guidelines, which appear in detail in Circulation. Some of the recommendations include:
* Early screening for depression in heart patients.
* Timely follow-up of patients who exhibit symptoms of both conditions
* Scheduling depressive heart patients for evaluation
* Heart patients who have depressive symptoms must be screened for anxiety as well
* Consider treatment options like cognitive behavioral therapy, physical activity, cardiac rehabilitation and antidepressants.
Judith H. Lichtman, a co-chair of the AHA statement and an associate professor of epidemiology at Yale University School of Medicine said there was plenty of evidence depression worsened the outcomes of heart disease in patients.
"By understanding the prevalence of depression and learning more about the subgroups of heart patients at particular risk of depression, we can begin to understand the best ways to recognize and treat it," she added in a news release.
Heart patients are usually vulnerable to a second adverse event that can prove disastrous in presence of depression given the emotional quotient involved in it. Hence by calling for routine screening of depression in heart patients, the AHA is trying to ensure that doctors do not neglect this important aspect of care.
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