Understanding the Burden of Depression and Anxiety in Myocardial Infarction (MI) Patients: Findings From a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Psychological disturbances are very common after myocardial infarction (MI) and can slow recovery. We did a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA)-based search in Cochrane, Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus till August 2023 using terms (Depression OR anxiety) AND ((Myocardial AND infarction) OR MI). Studies on adults reporting post-MI depression or anxiety with any design were included. Animal studies, abstracts only, and irrelevant designs were excluded. Due to high heterogeneity, a random-effects model was used. A total of 13 studies were analyzed (n=4730 for depression, n=1256 for anxiety). Depression was seen in 1217 patients, with a pooled prevalence of 0.341 (95% CI: 0.214-0.467, I²=99.22%). Anxiety was seen in 206 patients, with a pooled prevalence of 0.285 (95% CI: -0.059-0.630, I²=98.85%). A wide CI for anxiety is due to extreme heterogeneity and few studies, not true negative prevalence. Findings show that depression and anxiety remain frequent but still under-recognized after MI, stressing the need for routine screening and early psychological support in post-MI care.