Gender-Related Characteristics of Affective Disorders in Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction

The study objective is to investigate characteristics of mixed anxiety-depressive disorders (MADD) and the level of subjective self-control in relation to health (SSCh), as well as the effect of affective disorder severity on clinical course and prognosis of the disease in men and women with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).Materials and methods. The study included 124 patients with AMI aged between 30 and 85 years (mean age 58.6 ± 12.1 years), who were divided into 2 groups: the 1st group contained 88 (71 %) men, the 2nd group – 36 (29 %) women.Results. Per the screening test, MADD was more frequently diagnosed in the female group (91.7 %) compared to the male group (56.8 %), р 0.001. Absence of anxiety symptoms per the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was more frequently observed in the male group (77.3 % vs. 52.8 %, р 0.01; relative risk (RR) 1.46; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.05–2.03), and significant level of anxiety per HADS was more frequently diagnosed in the female group (4.5 % vs. 27.8 %, р 0.01; RR 0.16; 95 % CI 0.05–0.48). Absence of depression symptoms per HADS was more frequently observed in the male group (68.2 % vs. 30.6 %, р 0.01; RR 2.23; 95 % CI 1.33–3.72), and moderate (14.8 % vs. 33.3 %, р 0.05; RR 0.44; 95 % CI 0.22–0.87) and severe (17.0 % vs. 36.1 %, р 0.05; RR 0.47; 95 % CI 0.25– 0.88) levels of depression per HADS were more common in the female group. Absence of depression symptoms per the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was more frequently observed in the male group (42.1 % vs. 11.1 % women, р 0.01; RR 3.78; 95 % CI 1.45–9.84). In the female group, moderate (27.8 % vs. 10.2 %, р 0.05; RR 0.36; 95 % CI 0.16–0.83) and severe (13.9 % vs. 3.4 %, р 0.05; RR 0.24; 95 % CI 0.06–0.97) levels of depression per this scale were more common than in the male group. Left ventricular ejection fraction was lower in the female group (41.4 ± 11.4 %) compared to the male group (45.8 ± 10.3 %), р 0.05. Mortality was higher in the female group compared to the male group: overall (19.4 % vs. 5.7 %, р 0.05), hospital (8.3 % vs. 1.1 %, р 0.05), and post-hospital (11.1 % vs. 4.5 %, р 0.05) mortality, respectively. Conclusion. Psychometric tests have shown higher rate and severity of MADD in the female group compared to the male group. In the female group, left ventricular ejection fraction was significantly lower than in the male group, and overall and hospital mortality was higher.