Associations between depressive, anxiety, stress symptoms and elevated blood pressure: Findings from the CHCN-BTH cohort study and a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis

• Published in: Journal of affective disorders Vol. 341; pp. 176 - 184
• Main Authors: Qi, Han, Wen, Fu-Yuan, Xie, Yun-Yi, Liu, Xiao-Hui, Li, Bing-Xiao, Peng, Wen-Juan, Cao, Han, Zhang, Ling
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 15.11.2023
• Subjects: Anxiety; Depression; Elevated blood pressure; Mendelian randomization; Stress; Depression; Anxiety; Elevated blood pressure; Mendelian randomization; Stress
• ISSN: 0165-0327; 1573-2517
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.08.086

We aimed to determine whether depressive, anxiety, stress symptoms were associated with the risk of elevated blood pressure by performing longitudinal cohort and Mendelian Randomization (MR) analyses. We used data from the Cohort Study on Chronic Disease of Community Natural Population in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (CHCN-BTH) from 2017 to 2021. The Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale was used to evaluate the depressive, anxiety, stress symptoms. The longitudinal associations between depressive, anxiety, stress symptoms and elevated blood pressure were estimated using Cox proportional regression models. Two-sample MR analysis was performed using the Inverse-variance weighted (IVW), weighted median, and MR–Egger to explore the causal relationships between depressive, anxiety, stress symptoms and elevated blood pressure. In total, 5624 participants were included. The risk of SBP ≥ 140 mmHg or DBP ≥ 90 mmHg was significantly higher in participants with baseline anxiety symptoms (HR = 1.48, 95 % CI: 1.03 to 2.12, P = 0.033; HR = 1.56, 95 % CI: 1.05 to 2.32, P = 0.028), especially in men and individuals with higher educational levels, independent of baseline depression and anxiety at the two-year follow-up. The two-sample MR analysis showed positive associations between depressive, anxiety, stress symptoms and elevated blood pressure. Self-reported mental health symptoms, relatively shorter follow-up duration and the European-derived genome-wide association study data for MR analysis. Anxiety symptoms were positively associated with elevated blood pressures in the longitudinal analysis independent of depression, stress, and other confounders. The results were verified in MR analysis, providing evidence for causal effects of anxiety symptoms on the risk of elevated blood pressure. •Patients with comorbid hypertension and depressive, anxious and stress symptoms are at a higher risk of somatic disease.•In this study, anxiety was positively associated with higher BPs independent of depression, stress, and other confounders.•The two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis showed positive associations between mental health symptoms and elevated blood pressure.•Effective measures should be taken to improve the mental health status of the population to reduce the risks of elevated blood pressure.