Sex differences in the relationship between depression and cardiovascular disease risk: a nationwide study in Korea

This study aimed to identify sex differences in the association between depression and the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD).

A secondary analysis was conducted of data from the fifth to seventh waves (2010-2018) of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The participants were adults aged 30-74 years who had no diagnosis of CVD. The CVD risk was calculated using the Framingham Risk Score algorithm. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to identify the association between depression and CVD risk using a complex sample design.

The mean CVD risk was higher in males and females with current depression (14.72% vs. 6.35%, respectively) than in males without current depression (11.67% and 4.42%, respectively). Current depression showed a significant association with CVD risk after controlling for only health-related characteristics, but the significance disappeared in both males and females when demographic characteristics were additionally controlled.

The presence of depression was not associated with CVD risk regardless of sex after controlling for confounding factors. Further studies are recommended to investigate the relationship between depression and CVD risk in a larger sample of both males and females with depression.