Updated June 08, 2015.

May 2005

Researchers have found that one in five patients hospitalized for heart attack experiences a major depression. According to the cardiologists who conducted the study, the depressed patients are fifty percent more likely than other heart attack patients to need hospital care for a heart problem again within a year and three times as likely to die from a future attack or other heart-related conditions.

The research was conducted at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Evidenced-Based Practice Center

Heart attack patients are often screened for depression, but this study highlights the importance of carefully evaluating the mental health of heart attack patients. Many heart attack patients leave the hospital after only a few days, and that is not often enough time to schedule psychological testing. Depression can also take time to develop.

The depression that follows a heart attack is poorly understood. A heart attack survivor has undergone a severe physical challange as well as a huge psychological trauma. More research will be needed to determine how to best diagnose and treat this form of depression.

The study findings are contained in the report titled Evidence Report on Post-Myocardial Infarction Depression.

Last edited 11/5/05