2013年10月14日 讯 /生物谷BIOON/ --10月11日，香港研究人员在美国老年精神病学协会官方杂志《美国老年精神病学杂志》（The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry）上报告说，中国已成为抑郁症人口大国，成人抑郁症患者数量估计超过 1 亿，可能已达“警戒级别”。专家认为，抑郁症人群不断增多，对社会与公共卫生构成挑战。
香港大学医学院，基于香港老人的监测系统，在1998年选取具代表性的近 6 万（62,839）名 65岁及以上长者进行追踪调查，并对参与者进行了相应等测试。在依据调查结果进行推算后，研究者认为，香港老人的抑郁症患病率估计为9.7%，其中男性为 7.1%，女性为 11.0%。文章的作者还发现，在男性抑郁症的对心脏的健康危险比女性要严重。 男性，女性都会因为抑郁症而导致中风的危险上升，但是男性抑郁症还会导致冠心病的显著性高发，而女性则不会。
主要研究者杜兰大学全球健康和环境学系的孙文杰博士表示，抑郁症因其在遗传学、生活方式、环境因素之间的复杂相互作用而变成了针对社会和医疗卫生的一项挑战。快速的现代化导致了抑郁症的高发。对抑郁症病的危害性认识亟待进一步提高，抑郁症不仅仅是一种精神疾病，更有可能引起或者加重其他生理性疾病。特别是人口老龄化，社会急速发展的中国，老年抑郁症患病率不断增长的情况下，抑郁症的所以发的其他慢性疾病如心脏病需要引起重视。研究人员认为，从总人口角度看，由抑郁症引起的心脏病的风险是一个重要的公共卫生问题。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐英文摘要：
The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2013.01.048
Are Depressive Symptoms Associated with Cardiovascular Mortality Among Older Chinese: A Cohort Study of 64,000 People in Hong Kong?
Wen Jie Sun, Lin Xu, Wai Man Chan, Tai Hing Lam, C. Mary Schooling
Background
Depression was positively associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) or mortality in previous studies. However, whether the observed association can be explained by health status is not clear.
Objectives
To study the association of depressive symptoms with CVD, stroke, and coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality in older Chinese in Hong Kong, and whether the associations varied by gender or health status.
Design
Prospective population-based study.
Setting
Elderly Health Centers.
Participants
A total of 62,839 people age 65 or older (21,473 men and 41,366 women) enrolled during July 1998 to December 2001 at all 18 Elderly Health Centers of the Department of Health of Hong Kong.
Measurements
Fifteen-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was used and presence of depressive symptoms was defined by GDS score 8 or more. The cohort was followed up for mortality till March 31, 2009.
Results
Depressive symptoms were only associated with CHD mortality in men (hazard ratio [HR] 1.41, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08–1.84; p for gender interaction = 0.02) adjusted for age, education, monthly expenditure, smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, body mass index, health status, and self-rated health. GDS score was associated with stroke mortality (similarly adjusted HR 1.02 per score, 95% CI: 1.00–1.04) in all subjects (adjusted also for gender), and CHD mortality (1.04 [1.01–1.07]) in men. Health status attenuated but did not modify any associations.
Conclusion
Depressive symptoms were independently associated with higher CHD mortality in older Chinese men, and with higher stroke mortality in both genders. However, attenuation by health status, and lack of consistency by gender indicate that these associations could be noncausal and further studies by treatment trials and Mendelian randomization are needed.
