Cardiovascular risk factors in depression. The role of anxiety and anger.

The authors hypothesized that patients with anxious or hostile depression may have a greater risk of mortality from coronary artery disease (CAD) than other depressed patients and therefore proceeded to assess the possible relationship between CAD risk factors and anger and anxiety in a sample of 138 depressed outpatients. The authors observed that increased anxiety scores were associated with higher cholesterol levels and with prolonged QTc intervals. Similarly, the patients with anger attacks tended to have higher cholesterol levels compared with the patients without these attacks. The study's findings partially support the authors' hypothesis that hostile or anxious depressed patients are at greater risk for CAD than other depressed patients.