Clinical characteristics associated with depression or anxiety among patients presenting for knee surgery

Preoperative depression and anxiety in patients undergoing surgery have been shown to be associated with increased postoperative complications, decreased functional improvement, and long-term dissatisfaction. The purpose of this prospective study was to measure the relationship between a diagnosis of depression or anxiety and Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) domains, as well as determine which preoperative factors are associated with depression or anxiety in patients undergoing knee surgery. We hypothesized that preoperative depression and/or anxiety would be associated with worse preoperative pain, function, and general health status.

Three-hundred and eighty-six patients undergoing knee surgery between 2015 and 2017 were administered health-related quality of life measures preoperatively, and their medical records were reviewed for relevant medical history. A propensity matched analysis was performed to determine clinical factors independently associated with preoperative depression and/or anxiety.

The overall study population consisted of 216 males and 170 females, with a mean age of 39.4 ± 16.2 years. From this overall cohort, 43 (11.1%) patients had a positive preoperative diagnosis of depression and/or anxiety. After controlling for covariate imbalances, preoperative depression/anxiety was independently associated with PROMIS Anxiety (p = 0.018), PROMIS Depression (p < 0.019), and Tegner pre-injury (p = 0.013) scores. Regression analysis also determined that preoperative depression/anxiety was independently associated with arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) (p = 0.004), total knee arthroplasty (TKA) (p = 0.019), and uni-compartmental knee arthroplasty (p < 0.05).

The results support our hypothesis that preoperative depression/anxiety is associated with worse preoperative pain, function, and general health status. Furthermore, PROMIS Anxiety and Depression tools offer a reliable means of measuring psychological distress in the orthopaedic knee population. Similar to other studies, we also noted psychological comorbidity to be independently associated with ACLR and TKA.