New Study Finds Women Smokers with Heart Disease Suffer From Depression.

2001 DEC 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by C.W. Henderson, senior medical correspondent - Little research has been conducted on women smokers and cardiovascular disease (CVD).

But that is changing, as several new studies, including the largest ever describing smoking patterns of women hospitalized with CVD, were reported at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2001 meeting, Anaheim, California.

Erika Froelicher, professor in the School of Nursing and Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, presented findings from a clinical trial, "Women's Initiative for Non-Smoking," the largest study ever describing the smoking patterns of women hospitalized with CVD.

They concluded that the women were mostly older, Caucasian, and quite ill. They had smoked for many years, were highly addicted to tobacco, had few social and financial resources, and a large proportion of them were depressed.

Of the 277 women, researchers found "56.6% were depressed based on the Burnam Depression Screener."

"Important psychosocial factors need to be considered when planning smoking cessation interventions for women with [CVD]," it was reported during a news conference at the AHA meeting.

The study ...