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Association of hypotension with positive and negative affect and depressive symptoms in the elderly

Centre for Mental Health Research, Australian National University, Canberra 0200, Australia. Tel: +61 2 61252741; Fax: +61 2 61250733

Correspondence: e-mail: Anthony.Jorm{at}anu.edu.au

Declaration of interest Funding was provided by the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Rotary Health Research Fund.

Background Previous research associating hypotension with depression has produced inconsistent results. A possible reasons is that depressive symptom scales reflect both high negative affect and low positive affect.

Aims To examine the association of hypotension with depressive symptoms, negative affect and positive affect.

Method Community survey of 340 elderly persons aged 77-99 years.

Results Diastolic hypotension had a weak association with depression, no association with negative affect and a strong inverse association with positive affect. Systolic hypertension was associated with positive affect. Use of antihypertensive medication was independently associated with lower positive affect.

Conclusions Diastolic hypotension shows a specific association with low positive affect. This association may explain the weak and inconsistent results of earlier studies relating hypotension to depression.

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