Abstract

INFLUENCE OF MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER AND THE USE OF ANTI-DEPRESSANTS ON DEVELOPMENT OF VENOUS THROMBOEMBOLISM

Lina El-haj Mousa, *Tarig Osman, Nahid Osman

Abstract

Background: A venous thromboembolism (VTE) generally covers two interrelated conditions, deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). Thromboembolic disease is considered the third most common acute cardiovascular disease globally. Various studies have been reporting an observed increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) associated with depressive disorder. Objective: The present study aims to evaluate the occurrence of this association between depressive disorder and antidepressant medications with the risk of subsequent development of venous thromboembolism. Design: A retrospective hospital-based descriptive study that was conducted in Khartoum state hospitals. Methods: Total Coverage purposive technique of available patients’ records hospitalised with depressive disorder, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE) during the year 2018. The collected data was reviewed, extracted to excel sheets and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS (IBM SPSS Statistics 24). Results: A total of 221 cases were covered. According to findings, the development of DVT was found to be significantly associated with the presence of depressive disorder and with the use of antidepressant medications (P=0.001 in both circumstances). While the occurrence of PE was found to be significantly associated with the existence of depressive disorder (p=0.007) and no association was found with the use of antidepressant medications. Conclusion: This study concluded that major depressive disorder is constituted a risk factor in developing venous thromboembolism. Moreover, the use of antidepressants, even if indicated for a disorder other than depression, is associated with the development of DVT. However, neither depression nor antidepressant use is associated with pulmonary embolism but indirectly can contribute through DVT to develop PE.

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