Depressive symptoms in patients after primary and secondary prophylactic ICD implantation

Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) are successfully used to treat life-threatening arrhythmias and prevent sudden cardiac death. However, they are also known to have a major psychological impact leading to higher prevalence of depression and anxiety in a substantial proportion of patients. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of depressive symptoms in a large cohort of ICD carriers with a different clinical background and to compare prevalence and risk factors between patients with primary and secondary prophylactic indication for ICD implantation.

315 out of 622 patients (50.6%), who regularly attended ICD assessments at the University Hospital Zurich completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI I-II) to estimate current depressive symptoms.

Overall, depressive symptoms were common in ICD patients, with 20.3% of the patients showing clinically relevant depression (12.4% mild depressive symptoms, 6.0% moderate, 1.9% severe). Moderate to severe depressive symptoms seem to be more likely in patients with secondary prophylactic indication of the ICD as compared to a group of patients with primary prophylactic implantation. Patients that received more than 5 ICD shocks since implantation reveal more depressive symptoms than those with less events. Mean BDI Score in total (n = 315) was at 8.44 ± 7.56 without a statistically significant difference between the primary (M = 8.04 ± 7.10, n = 153) and secondary (M = 8.81 ± 7.98, n = 162) preventive group (p value = 0.362), even after adjustment for various clinical characteristics. ICD patients should therefore be well supported and advised concerning the psychological impact of their device and particular aspects of daily life concerns (e.g. physical activity), with a special focus on patients, who have received multiple shocks.