Heart attacks pose an exceptional risk to the mental health of the partners of affected patients, researchers warn today.
The new study has found that spouses of people who suffer heart attacks are at a raised risk of depression, anxiety and suicide compared with spouses of people with other health conditions.
About 18 per cent of heart attack patients develop major depression and up to half experience minor depression, say Dr Emil Fosbol of Duke University Medical Centre, North Carolina, USA, and colleagues in the European Heart Journal.
But it may also be a life-changing event for their spouse. Few studies have investigated the psychological consequences for spouses, so the team looked at figures from Danish national registries on 16,506 spouses of patients with fatal or non-fatal heart attack. Their mental health was compared to 49,518 spouses of patients with other conditions.
Husbands and wives of heart attack patients had significantly higher rates of antidepressant and benzodiazepine use than other spouses, and those whose spouses died also had an increased risk of suicide. Husbands were at a slightly higher risk of depression than wives.
The researchers conclude: "Spouses of those who experience heart attack – both fatal and non-fatal – are at elevated risk for psychological consequences; therefore, the care needs of heart attack patients and their spouses need to be considered."
They believe that it may be the sudden and unexpected nature of a heart attack, compared with cancer for example, that causes the more extreme impact.
Maureen Talbot of the British Heart Foundation commented: "A heart attack can impact the whole family and this study emphasises the importance of caring for the partners of heart attack sufferers. It is essential they receive the emotional and practical support they need during this often traumatic time."
Spousal depression, anxiety, and suicide after myocardial infarction. Fosbol, E. L. et al. The European Heart Journal August 22 2012 doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehs242
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