Results of a recent study are suggestive of potentially underdiagnosed mental health issues surrounding major cardiovascular events, and indeed, chronic disease as a whole. To the researchers’ knowledge, this is the first study to document and examine the “depression paradox” among a population of cardiac patients. Using data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) from the years 2004 to 2013, they assessed whether a clinical co-diagnosis of depression and/or anxiety decreases the likelihood of revascularization among ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) hospitalizations. They found:

• Paradoxically, the odds of in-hospital mortality were lower among STEMI hospitalizations with a clinical co-diagnosis of depression and/or anxiety as compared to those without.
• It was further discovered that clinical diagnoses of depression and/or anxiety were less prevalent among revascularized as compared to non-revascularized STEMI hospitalizations.
• However, the percentage of clinical diagnoses of depression and/or anxiety among STEMI hospitalizations increased at a similar rate over a 10-year period irrespective of revascularization status.