Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Jan 13;8(1):2055102920987462.
doi: 10.1177/2055102920987462. eCollection 2021 Jan-Jun.

Anxiety as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease independent of depression: A narrative review of current status and conflicting findings

Håvard R Karlsen  1 , Florian Matejschek  2 , Ingvild Saksvik-Lehouillier  1 , Eva Langvik  1
Affiliations
Review

Anxiety as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease independent of depression: A narrative review of current status and conflicting findings

Håvard R Karlsen et al. Health Psychol Open. .

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to summarise and evaluate the empirical support for the association between anxiety and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and to address challenges related to method and study design. We review results from meta-analyses and more recent findings on the association of anxiety and the risk of CVD. Depression and anxiety are often listed as psychosocial risk markers of CVD, but the role of anxiety as a risk factor for CVD has not received the same evidential support as the effects of depression. Through a narrative review we identified six meta-analyses as well as 15 recent large studies of anxiety and CVD that we summarise. Some of the conflicting findings may be artefacts of study design or population the sample is drawn from. Researchers should take care to be population specific, measurement specific and outcome specific, and to control for comorbid depression.

Keywords: anxiety; cardiovascular disease; coronary disease; review; stroke.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

    1. AbuRuz ME, Masa’Deh RM, Hayeah HA. (2018) Anxiety and depression as predictors of acute myocardial infarction in patients with pre-existing coronary heart disease. Electronic Journal of Biology 14(1): 22–28.
    1. Bankier B, Barajas J, Martinez-Rumayor A, et al. (2008) Association between C-reactive protein and generalized anxiety disorder in stable coronary heart disease patients. European Heart Journal 29(18): 2212–2217. - PubMed
    1. Batelaan NM, Seldenrijk A, Bot M, et al. (2016) Anxiety and new onset of cardiovascular disease: Critical review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Psychiatry 208(3): 223–231. - PubMed
    1. Benyamini Y, Roziner I, Goldbourt U, et al. (2013) Depression and anxiety following myocardial infarction and their inverse associations with future health behaviors and quality of life. Annals of Behavioral Medicine 46(3): 310–321. - PubMed
    1. Bruce DG, Davis WA, Dragovic M, et al. (2016) Comorbid anxiety and depression and their impact on cardiovascular disease in type 2 diabetes: The Fremantle Diabetes Study Phase II. Depression and Anxiety 33(10): 960–966. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources