The role of depression in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease

To the Editor: The latest guidelines for the management of absolute cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk released by the National Vascular Disease Prevention Alliance1 question the utility of conventional risk assessment methods to accurately estimate cardiovascular risk of individuals with depression. Subsequently, these guidelines advocate that individuals assessed for CVD risk be assessed for depression and other psychosocial factors. This appears to be a promising advance, as the current scope of CVD prevention and management activities in medical and public health spheres remains somewhat limited to more traditional risk factors.