External factors show reproducible local symptom-biomarker associations in middle-aged and older adults with heart disease - Summary - MDSpire

External factors show reproducible local symptom-biomarker associations in middle-aged and older adults with heart disease

  • By

  • Shi, Haoke

  • Yang, Lihua

  • Fang, Yijie

  • Lu, Hongping

  • Huang, Yangyang

  • Xiao, Zhiyong

  • Long, Yongxin

  • Li, Peng

  • Shi, Fengzhi

  • Liao, Hongwu

  • Yin, Xinhong

  • May 19, 2026

  • 0 min

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Objective:

To examine the association of multimorbidity burden, caregiving status, and sex with a joint depressive symptom-biomarker network in older adults with heart disease.

Key Findings:
  • External factors were associated with heterogeneous local patterns in the joint symptom-biomarker network.
  • No significant subgroup differences in overall network structure or global connectivity were observed.
  • Multimorbidity burden showed broad patterns across domains, caregiving status showed weaker and more localized patterns, and sex showed clear and reproducible patterns.
Interpretation:

Depressive heterogeneity in older adults with heart disease is more clearly reflected in local symptom-biomarker associations than in broad network-wide differences.

Limitations:
Conclusion:

The findings support an assessment-oriented approach that integrates external factors and routinely available biomarkers for characterizing depressive heterogeneity in this population.

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