Cohort study
Psychological therapies for depression and cardiovascular risk: evidence from national healthcare records in England
- Retrospective cohort study
- linked national electronic healthcare records
- multivariable Cox models
Authors' conclusion
Management of depression through psychological interventions may be associated with reduced risk of CVD.
Study context
- Population
- Individuals who completed a course of psychotherapy for depression in the NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) programme, England
- Participants
- 636,955 individuals
- Exposure
- Reliable improvement vs No reliable improvement
- Outcome
- Incident cardiovascular disease (CVD)
- Follow-up
- Median 3.1 years
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Reliable improvement vs No reliable improvementHazard ratio (95% CI)
any CVD
0.88(0.86–0.89)
CHD
0.89(0.86–0.92)
stroke
0.88(0.83–0.94)
all-cause mortality
0.81(0.78–0.84)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
All outcomes, by age (subgroup)
- Association stronger in under 60 than over 60 for all outcomes
Sensitivity analyses
- Results confirmed in sensitivity analyses
Original publication
Psychological therapies for depression and cardiovascular risk: evidence from national healthcare records in England. Eur Heart J. Published 18 April 2023. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehad188
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it