Factors associated with depression and anxiety of hospitalized patients with heart failure

Heart failure (HF) is a chronic disease associated with significant prevalence, mortality, and health care expenditure. The aim of the present study was to explore the factors associated with anxiety and depression experienced by patients hospitalized with HF.

We evaluated 190 hospitalized HF patients in four public hospitals. The data were collected using a specific questionnaire, which, apart from demographic and clinical variables, included the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).

In the total sample, 24.7% and 32.6% of patients were found to have moderate or high levels of anxiety, respectively. Simple multinomial logistic regression showed that no characteristic was significantly associated with anxiety. It also appeared that 17.4% of patients had minor and 24.2% major depression. Among the factors examined, longer disease duration was associated with a higher probability of being depressed (p=0.041). Moreover, single/divorced and widowed patients were more likely to have major depression compared to married patients (35.6% vs. 19.2%, p=0.046). Simple multinomial logistic regression revealed that married patients were 59% less likely to have major depression compared to their unmarried counterparts (OR: 0.41). Moreover, patients with short (<1 year) and moderate (2-5 years) disease duration were 69% (OR: 0.31) and 61% (OR: 0.39) less likely to have major depression compared to those with a long disease duration. Multiple multinomial logistic regression showed that only the disease duration remained statistically significantly associated with depression after controlling for the rest of factors found to be significant at a univariate level.

Nurses and physicians must take measures for the identification, assessment and management of anxiety and depression in this clinical population.