2011 Articles

Aspirin Adherence, Depression and One-Year Prognosis after Acute Coronary Syndrome

Rieckmann, Nina; Burg, Matthew M.; Kronish, Ian M.; Chaplin, William F.; Schwartz, Joseph E.; Davidson, Karina W.

In survivors of acute coronary syndromes (ACS; unstable angina or myocardial infarction), depression is highly prevalent [1] and increases the risk of adverse medical outcomes, independent of other prognostic risk markers [2, 3] . After ACS, adherence to recommended medications (e.g. aspirin, statins and -blockers) is crucial to prevent recurrent events or mortality [4–6], yet rates of adherence to these medications are poor [7–9] . Depressed patients are especially likely to be poorly adherent [8–11] . Thus, poor medication adherence may explain some of the increased risk of depression and adverse clinical outcomes after ACS.