Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Jan 2021
A sad heart: Depression and favorable cardiovascular health in Brazil.
Depression is associated with poor cardiovascular health (CVH) and increased risk of cardiovascular disease in high-income countries. However, it is unclear whether depression, particularly somatic depressive symptoms, may similarly contribute to poor CVH in a different socioeconomic context. Our aim was to investigate the association between depression and CVH in Brazil, a middle-income country. 49,658 participants (≥18 years) from the 2013 National Health Survey-Brazil. ⋯ In conclusion, depression is associated with lower odds of having favorable CVH in Brazil, and associations are evident across both somatic and cognitive components of depression. Moreover, the relationship was independent of socioeconomic factors, chronic diseases, and was not strongly explained by diet or physical activity. Overall, our findings suggest that the greater odds of having poor CVH among depressed individuals is not unique to high-income countries.