Spousal depressive symptoms and partner's subsequent risk of cardiovascular diseases: A nationwide population-based prospective study in China.

Background: The relationship between spousal depressive symptoms and cardiovascular risk remains understudied despite established links between individual depression and cardiovascular outcomes.

Methods: Using data from 6651 married Chinese adults (≥45 years) in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011-2018), we examined associations between spousal depressive symptoms and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) using Cox proportional hazards models. Cox models with penalized splines were performed to explore the dose-response relationship. Marginal structural models examined how changes in spousal depressive symptoms over time related to CVD risk. Four-way decomposition analysis quantified the mediating and modifying role of individual depressive symptoms.

Results: Spouses with depressive symptoms were associated with increased CVD risk (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.26, 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 1.06-1.51 for men; HR: 1.29, 95 % CI: 1.08-1.54 for women). Dose-response analyses revealed similar linear patterns in both genders, with each unit increase in spousal depressive symptom score associated with progressive increases in CVD risk. Persistent spousal depressive symptoms were associated with significantly higher CVD risk in both men (HR: 1.44, 95 % CI: 1.04-1.98) and women (HR: 1.51, 95 % CI: 1.08-2.12), while recently remitted or recent-onset symptoms showed no significant associations. Women's own depressive symptoms mediated 26.3 % of this association, while no evidence of mediation was observed in men.

Conclusions: Spousal depressive symptoms represent an important, underrecognized CVD risk factor, highlighting the need for couple-based approaches to mental health care and cardiovascular management, particularly for couples where one partner has persistent depressive symptoms.