Screening for depression in coronary heart disease: The perfect Hegelian dialectic? A short commentary on 'Beyond the blues: The need for integrated care pathways'

摘要

A Hegelian dialectic comprises three stages of development: a thesis giving rise to a reaction, an antithesis which contradicts the thesis, and the tension between the two being resolved by a synthesis.Ski and Thompson state that there is a high prevalence of depression in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) which 'is associated with adverse outcomes, including increased morbidity and mortality and diminished quality of life in this population'. Thus they support the American Heart Association recommendation that screening programmes be set up to detect and treat depression in these patients with heart disease.