Depression is common and increasingly prevalent after myocardial infarction, yet it remains significantly underdiagnosed and undertreated.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to investigate the prevalence of depressive symptoms and the self-reported psychiatric treatment after myocardial infarction. METHOD: Depressive symptoms and medication were studied in 85 consecutive acute myocardial infarction patients during 18 months follow-up. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). RESULTS: The proportion of patients with depressive symptoms (BDI >/= 10) was 21.2% while in hospital, 30.0% at 6 months and 33.9% at 18 months. At 18 months, none of the patients were receiving adequate antidepressive medication. There were eight patients with BDI scores corresponding to moderate/severe depression (BDI >/= 19). Six of these patients were receiving benzodiazepine medication and two of them had been treated in the mental health care system after the myocardial infarction. CONCLUSION: There seems to be considerable problems in the diagnosis and/or treatment of depression after myocardial infarction.
Luutonen et al. (2002) studied this question.