Depressive states associated with risk factors for lifestyle-related diseases in medical students: association with insulin resistance and blood pressure

Abstract

Medical students, with their heavy workload are likely to suffer from depression, which is known to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. We investigated the relationship between depression and risk factors for life style-related disease in Japanese medical students. Male medical students (N = 59: 20.8 ± 1.8 years) participated in the study. Their level of depression was evaluated using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Risk factors associated with the metabolic syndrome, such as blood pressure, body mass index, glucosegulatory system and lipid profile were also evaluated. In addition, brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were estimated as surrogate makers of atherosclerosis. One-way analysis of variance and partial correlation analysis revealed that CES-D score was significantly and inversely correlated with baPWV. blood pressure and LDL-Cholesterol, whereas the high CES-D group showed significantly higher level of fasting insulin. It is concluded that although young medical students are not always depressed, those with high CES-D scores have signs of insulin resistance, which is an initial sign of metabolic deterioration, suggesting the possibility of developing cardiovascular risks, such as the metabolic syndrome in the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)