2013年10月14日 訊 /生物谷BIOON/ --10月11日，香港研究人員在美國(guó)老年精神病學(xué)協(xié)會(huì)官方雜志《美國(guó)老年精神病學(xué)雜志》（The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry）上報(bào)告說(shuō),，中國(guó)已成為抑郁癥人口大國(guó),，成人抑郁癥患者數(shù)量估計(jì)超過(guò) 1 億，可能已達(dá)“警戒級(jí)別”,。專(zhuān)家認(rèn)為,，抑郁癥人群不斷增多，對(duì)社會(huì)與公共衛(wèi)生構(gòu)成挑戰(zhàn),。
香港大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)院,，基于香港老人的監(jiān)測(cè)系統(tǒng)，在1998年選取具代表性的近 6 萬(wàn)（62,839）名 65歲及以上長(zhǎng)者進(jìn)行追蹤調(diào)查,，并對(duì)參與者進(jìn)行了相應(yīng)等測(cè)試,。在依據(jù)調(diào)查結(jié)果進(jìn)行推算后，研究者認(rèn)為,，香港老人的抑郁癥患病率估計(jì)為9.7%,，其中男性為 7.1%，女性為 11.0%,。文章的作者還發(fā)現(xiàn),，在男性抑郁癥的對(duì)心臟的健康危險(xiǎn)比女性要嚴(yán)重。 男性,，女性都會(huì)因?yàn)橐钟舭Y而導(dǎo)致中風(fēng)的危險(xiǎn)上升,，但是男性抑郁癥還會(huì)導(dǎo)致冠心病的顯著性高發(fā)，而女性則不會(huì),。
主要研究者杜蘭大學(xué)全球健康和環(huán)境學(xué)系的孫文杰博士表示,，抑郁癥因其在遺傳學(xué)、生活方式,、環(huán)境因素之間的復(fù)雜相互作用而變成了針對(duì)社會(huì)和醫(yī)療衛(wèi)生的一項(xiàng)挑戰(zhàn),。快速的現(xiàn)代化導(dǎo)致了抑郁癥的高發(fā),。對(duì)抑郁癥病的危害性認(rèn)識(shí)亟待進(jìn)一步提高,，抑郁癥不僅僅是一種精神疾病，更有可能引起或者加重其他生理性疾病,。特別是人口老齡化,，社會(huì)急速發(fā)展的中國(guó),，老年抑郁癥患病率不斷增長(zhǎng)的情況下,，抑郁癥的所以發(fā)的其他慢性疾病如心臟病需要引起重視。研究人員認(rèn)為,，從總?cè)丝诮嵌瓤?，由抑郁癥引起的心臟病的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)是一個(gè)重要的公共衛(wèi)生問(wèn)題。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦英文摘要：
The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2013.01.048
Are Depressive Symptoms Associated with Cardiovascular Mortality Among Older Chinese: A Cohort Study of 64,000 People in Hong Kong?
Wen Jie Sun, Lin Xu, Wai Man Chan, Tai Hing Lam, C. Mary Schooling
Background
Depression was positively associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) or mortality in previous studies. However, whether the observed association can be explained by health status is not clear.
Objectives
To study the association of depressive symptoms with CVD, stroke, and coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality in older Chinese in Hong Kong, and whether the associations varied by gender or health status.
Design
Prospective population-based study.
Setting
Elderly Health Centers.
Participants
A total of 62,839 people age 65 or older (21,473 men and 41,366 women) enrolled during July 1998 to December 2001 at all 18 Elderly Health Centers of the Department of Health of Hong Kong.
Measurements
Fifteen-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was used and presence of depressive symptoms was defined by GDS score 8 or more. The cohort was followed up for mortality till March 31, 2009.
Results
Depressive symptoms were only associated with CHD mortality in men (hazard ratio [HR] 1.41, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08–1.84; p for gender interaction = 0.02) adjusted for age, education, monthly expenditure, smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, body mass index, health status, and self-rated health. GDS score was associated with stroke mortality (similarly adjusted HR 1.02 per score, 95% CI: 1.00–1.04) in all subjects (adjusted also for gender), and CHD mortality (1.04 [1.01–1.07]) in men. Health status attenuated but did not modify any associations.
Conclusion
Depressive symptoms were independently associated with higher CHD mortality in older Chinese men, and with higher stroke mortality in both genders. However, attenuation by health status, and lack of consistency by gender indicate that these associations could be noncausal and further studies by treatment trials and Mendelian randomization are needed.
