DENVER — Both social isolation and depression hampered health behaviors in a study of 492 patients who suffered acute coronary syndrome events, reported Dr. Manual Paz-Yepes at the annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society.
The 174 patients without life partners were significantly less likely than the 318 patients with partners to participate in cardiac rehabilitation (35% vs. 64%) or exercise (46% vs. 57%), and were more likely to smoke (15% vs. 8%) 3 months after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) event.
Within 7 days of their ACS event and after 3 months, patients completed the Beck Depression Inventory as well as the UCLA loneliness scale, a measure of social isolation, wrote Dr. Paz-Yepes of the Cardiovascular Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, in a poster.
In a hierarchical regression analysis, depression, but not loneliness or partner status, was significantly tied to reduced likelihood of participation in cardiac rehab or exercise, and with reduced medication adherence. Loneliness was significantly linked with decreased medication adherence, lack of exercise, and smoking likelihood.