The significance of new onset anxiety on health outcomes among women with cardiovascular disease: a Canadian Longitudinal Study of Aging cohort study

Project Summary

Females report the most severe anxiety symptoms post-cardiac event and demonstrate poorer prognoses than males, but most of what we know about the risks of anxiety in those with ischemic heart disease (IHD) is from studies conducted in males. We will examine the sex-specific risks of new-onset generalized anxiety on cardiovascular clinical prognoses, health-care system-level burden, and patient-reported outcomes in patients with newly established IHD. We will use 3-waves of data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study of Aging Comprehensive Cohort to identify a cohort of patients with IHD and investigate the sex-specific health outcomes in patients with IHD and anxiety compared to the health outcomes in patients with IHD with no anxiety. Clarifying the importance of anxiety in females with IHD will enable the justification for enhanced anxiety screening protocols and more resources to support anxiety treatment in the aftermath of IHD.