Accepted for/Published in: Interactive Journal of Medical Research
Date Submitted: Jul 20, 2025
Open Peer Review Period: Jul 21, 2025 - Sep 15, 2025
Date Accepted: Jan 22, 2026
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Association between Depressive Symptoms and Incidence of Stroke in a Population with Cardiovascular - Kidney - Metabolic Syndrome Stage 0–3: A Nationwide Prospective Cohort Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
The association between depressive symptoms and cardiovascular diseases is well established. However, their impact on the incidence of stroke in individuals with Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) syndrome remains unclear.
Objective:
This study aims to investigate the impact of depressive symptoms at different stages of CKM syndrome on the incidence of new-onset stroke.
Methods:
This study utilized data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Depressive symptoms at baseline were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) , with stroke incidence determined through standardized follow-up questionnaires. Cox regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS) regression were used to evaluate the association between depressive symptoms and stroke risk.
Results:
The analysis included 9,593 participants (54.92% male, mean age 60.89 ± 9.39 years), classified into CKM stages 0–3. Fully adjusted Cox regression showed that each one-point increase in depressive score was associated with a 3% higher stroke risk (HR: 1.03; 95% CI: 1.02–1.04; P < 0.0001). RCS regression confirmed a significant positive linear relationship between depressive symptoms and stroke incidence (P < 0.001).
Conclusions:
This cohort study demonstrates a positive linear association between depressive symptoms and increased stroke incidence in individuals with CKM syndrome (Stages 0–3). These findings highlight the importance of emotional health management, suggesting that effective depression treatment may help reduce stroke risk through inflammation reduction and lifestyle improvements.
Citation
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Copyright
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