Depression and Risk of Stroke in Midaged Women

Background and Purpose—Depression is known to increase stroke risk. Although limited, there is some evidence for age differences, with a suggestion for a stronger association in younger groups. We investigated the effect of depression on stroke incidence in a large cohort of midaged women.

Methods—We included 10 547 women without a history of stroke aged 47 to 52 years from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health, surveyed every 3 years from 1998 to 2010. Depression was defined at each survey using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (shortened version) and antidepressant use in the past month. Stroke was ascertained through self-report and mortality data. We determined the association between depression and stroke at the subsequent survey, using generalized estimating equation analysis, adjusting for time-varying covariates. Read more