Sex Differences in Associations of Depressive Symptoms with Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Metabolic Syndrome among African Americans

Abstract

Young to middle-aged women usually have notably lower rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than their male counterparts, but African American women lack this advantage. Their elevated CVD may be influenced by sex differences in associations between depressed mood and CVD risk factors. This cross-sectional study examined whether relations between scores on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale and a spectrum of CVD risk factors varied by sex among African Americans (n = 1076; ages 30–64) from the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study. Sex-stratified multiple regressions and logistic regressions were conducted. Among women, CES-D scores correlated positively with systolic blood pressure and waist-to-hip ratio (P's < .05), but inversely with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (P < .01). Women had twice the odds for metabolic syndrome if CES-D scores ≥16 and had a ≥14% increase in odds of hypertension, abdominal obesity, and low HDL-C with each 5-unit increase in CES-D scores. Among men, CES-D scores correlated positively with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (P < .05), and odds of hypertension increased by 21% with each 5-unit increase in CES-D scores. Depressive symptoms may promote premature CVD risk in African Americans, at least in part, via CVD risk factors and prevalent metabolic syndrome, particularly in African American women.

The influence of gender on selected risk factors for chronic non-communicable diseases in patients hospitalized in surgical wards: A cross-sectional study

“…The study conducted by Cooper et al among African Americans showed that the greater the abdominal obesity, the more intensive depressive symptoms are. 76 Our study confirmed a positive correlation between WC and the BDI.…”

“…18,[72][73][74][75][76] The EZOP Poland study showed that women more often show symptoms of depression. 67 The present study confirmed this dependence.…”

High Sensitive C-Reactive Protein as an Indicator for Pro-Inflammatory Status in Different Degrees of Major Depression

“…[4,7,8] A significant positive association between the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and hsCRP levels among African-American men with depression was found that was absent in their female counterparts. [13] However, no such gender based variations regarding the association of hsCRP with depression was observed in the present study.…”

The Relation of Light-to-Moderate Alcohol Consumption to Glucose Metabolism and Insulin Resistance in Nondiabetic Adults: the Moderating Effects of Depressive Symptom Severity, Adiposity, and Sex

“…Evidence has suggested, however, that alcohol consumption is associated with early risk markers of cardiometabolic diseases, such as IR and fasting insulin, in a sex-specific manner [10, 36, 37]. It has been suggested that sex differences in the relationship between alcohol intake and metabolic markers are explained by adiposity [12].…”