Sex and Gender Differences in the Association Between Depression and Heart Failure: A Systematic Literature Review ; Diferencias sexuales y de género en la asociación entre depresión e insuficiencia cardiaca: una revisión bibliográfica sistemática

Heart failure (HF) is the inability of the heart to pump adequate blood to the tissues and affects 64.3 million people. Depression is a risk factor related to HF that, together with other comorbidities, habits and socioeconomic factors, lead to a worse outcome of HF. The main objective of this review was to evaluate the effect of depression in HF patients according to sex and/or gender and to analyse possible differences in the depressive symptoms. For this purpose, a systematic literature review was carried out using the Web of Science database and various inclusion and exclusion criteria. In most of the studies, significant sex/gender differences were observed in the depressive symptoms, being greater in women. Whereas HF mortality rate was similar in both sexes, women showed a poorer quality of life, and men were more likely to be re-hospitalised. Women's predisposition to depression can be explained by social factors and biological mechanisms. Obesity, diabetes, physical inactivity and socioeconomic status are more prevalent in women, while hypertension and smoking are more common in men. However, the risk of HF caused by these two factors is higher in women. In conclusion, HF is a multifactorial disease whose discrepancies according to sex and gender should be considered by health professionals. ; La insuficiencia cardiaca (IC) consiste en la incapacidad del corazón para bombear la sangre adecuada a los tejidos y afecta a 64,3 millones de personas. La depresión es un factor de riesgo relacionado con la IC que, junto con otras comorbilidades, hábitos y factores socioeconómicos, conducen a un peor pronóstico de la IC. El objetivo principal del trabajo es evaluar el efecto de la depresión en pacientes con IC en función del sexo y/o género y analizar las posibles diferencias en los síntomas depresivos. Para ello se realizó una revisión bibliográfica sistemática utilizando la base de datos Web of Science y diversos criterios de inclusión y exclusión. En la mayoría de los trabajos consultados se observaron ...