Association between depressive symptoms and thoracic aortic calcification, and their independent and joint prognostic value for incident atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in the MESA cohort.

ABSTRACT: Depression is highly prevalent; however, its association with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) events remains incompletely understood. This study aimed to evaluate the association between depressive symptoms and thoracic aortic calcification (TAC) and assess their joint prognostic value for future ASCVD events. We analyzed 2,600 participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) without baseline ASCVD. TAC was quantified using non-contrast chest CT as a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D ≥ 16). Linear regression assessed the association between depressive symptoms and log-transformed TAC. Cox proportional hazards models evaluated independent and joint assoc

SUBMITTER: Arai D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC13645938 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature