Does Mental Distress Predict Cardiac Surgical Outcome?

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Psychiatry
• Surgical Outcomes

Background:

• Mental distress is suspected to impact cardiac patient morbidity, but its effect on surgical outcomes is not well-established.
• Assessing mental distress in cardiac patients is uncommon, limiting understanding of its role in recovery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of mental distress on postoperative outcomes in cardiac surgical patients.
• To identify predictors of length of stay, mechanical ventilation time, and intensive care unit stay.

Main Methods:

• The study included 94 cardiac surgical patients.
• Mental distress was assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4).
• Outcomes measured included hospital length of stay, intensive care unit length of stay, and mechanical ventilation duration. Predictors analyzed were age, physical activity, diabetes, overweight, PHQ-4 score, and C-reactive protein (CRP).

Main Results:

• Prevalence of generalized anxiety was 16.0% and depression was 13.8%.
• Hospital length of stay was predicted by age, low physical activity, and high CRP.
• CRP was the sole significant predictor for mechanical ventilation time and intensive care unit length of stay.

Conclusions:

• Mental distress did not predict surgical outcomes in this cohort.
• High CRP levels were associated with poorer outcomes, potentially due to a higher cardiovascular risk profile.
• While depression may be linked to inflammation, the study suggests further research with larger sample sizes and different assessment timings is needed to clarify the relationship between mental distress and cardiac surgery outcomes.