Psychiatric disorders and ACS risk: Insights from a large-scale meta-analysis :- Medznat

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Key take away

Depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, and PTSD significantly increase the risk of acute coronary syndrome, with PTSD showing the strongest association.

Background

Growing evidence suggests that mental health conditions may contribute to cardiovascular (CV) disease through shared CV risk factors such as inflammation, metabolic abnormalities, and unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. Understanding the connection between mental disorders and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) could improve risk stratification and preventive strategies in CV care. Hence, this systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated whether individuals with clinically diagnosed mental disorders face a higher risk of ACS compared with individuals without psychiatric conditions.

Method

Researchers executed a comprehensive search of MEDLINE, Embase, and PubMed. Eligible studies included observational or randomized research that reported the association between mental disorders and ACS risk, measured through hazard ratios, risk ratios, or odds ratios

The study quality was checked with the aid of the National Institutes of Health Study Quality Assessment Tools. Data were synthesized utilizing a random-effects meta-analysis.

Result

Out of 3,616 initially identified studies, 25 studies met the inclusion criteria, encompassing 22,048,504 subjects. The median participant age was 48 years, and 59.1% were men. The analysis revealed that several common mental health disorders escalate ACS risk. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) showed the strongest association, with nearly a threefold increase in ACS risk.

Anxiety disorders and sleep disorders were also strongly linked with higher CV risk. Depression increased ACS risk by about 40%, reinforcing previous research linking mood disorders to heart disease. In contrast, bipolar disorder and psychotic disorders were not considerably associated with increased acute myocardial infarction risk, although the estimated risk levels were comparable to some other psychiatric conditions (Table 1).

Conclusion

Depression, anxiety, PTSD, and sleep disorders are important risk factors for ACS. The results emphasize the need for holistic CV prevention strategies that address both mental health and traditional CV risk factors to minimize the burden of heart disease.