Relation between depressive symptoms and treadmill exercise capacity in the Heart and Soul Study

To examine the association between depressive symptoms and exercise capacity, we performed a cross-sectional study of 944 outpatients with stable coronary artery disease and found that the presence of depressive symptoms was independently associated with poor exercise capacity (<5 MET tasks achieved; adjusted odds ratio 1.8, 95% confidence interval 1.1 to 2.7, p = 0.01). Depressive symptoms should be considered in the differential diagnosis of poor exercise capacity.