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Depressive symptoms and carotid intima–media thickness in South American Hispanics: results from the PREVENCION study

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Abstract

This study aimed to: (1) examine the relationship between depressive symptoms and subclinical atherosclerosis, measured by carotid intima–media thickness (IMT); and, (2) Determine the moderating effect of gender in this relationship among South American Hispanics. We studied 496 adults enrolled in the population-based PREVENCION study. Carotid IMT was measured with high-resolution ultrasonography. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Mean carotid IMT was 0.66 mm. (SD = 0.17) and mean depression score was 5.6 (SD = 3.5). Depressive symptoms were not associated with carotid IMT (β = 0.04, p = 0.222) in multivariate analyses. A significant moderating effect of gender was found (β for interaction = 0.10, p = 0.030), resulting from a significant association between depressive symptoms and carotid IMT in men but not women. Depressive symptoms were associated with subclinical atherosclerosis in South American Hispanic men but not women after controlling for demographic characteristics and traditional cardiovascular risk factors.

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Acknowledgments

The PREVENCION study was supported by the Santa Maria Research Institute in Arequipa, Peru.

Conflict of interest

The authors Diana Chirinos, Josefina Medina-Lezama, Belissa Salinas-Najarro, William Arguelles, Maria Llabre, Neil Schneiderman, Roberto Paz-Manrique, Juan Bolanos, Zubair Kahn and Julio Chirinos declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (5). Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Miami, P.O. Box 248185, Coral Gables, FL, 33124-0751, USA

    Diana A. Chirinos, William Arguelles, Maria M. Llabre & Neil Schneiderman

  2. Santa Maria Catholic University Research Institute, Arequipa, Peru

    Diana A. Chirinos, Josefina Medina-Lezama, Belissa Salinas-Najarro, Roberto Paz-Manrique & Juan F. Bolanos

  3. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Zubair Khan & Julio A. Chirinos

  4. Philadelphia VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Julio A. Chirinos

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  1. Diana A. Chirinos
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  2. Josefina Medina-Lezama
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  3. Belissa Salinas-Najarro
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  4. William Arguelles
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  5. Maria M. Llabre
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  6. Neil Schneiderman
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  7. Roberto Paz-Manrique
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  8. Juan F. Bolanos
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  9. Zubair Khan
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  10. Julio A. Chirinos
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Correspondence to Diana A. Chirinos.

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On behalf of the PREVENCION Investigators.

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Chirinos, D.A., Medina-Lezama, J., Salinas-Najarro, B. et al. Depressive symptoms and carotid intima–media thickness in South American Hispanics: results from the PREVENCION study. J Behav Med 38, 284–293 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-014-9599-9

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