Abstract
Background: Patients with Heart Failure (HF) experience psychological distress, reduced social functioning and severe symptoms such as breathlessness, fatigue and anxiety, which may have an impact on patients quality of life. It is known that patients physical and mental well being is affected by HF. It is also known that a considerable number of patients with HF experience symptoms of depression.
Objectives: To describe quality of life and depression of HF patients and to assess the relationship between quality of life and depression in HF patients.
Methods: A sample of 367 patients (61% male; mean age 71 years± 11; mean LVEF 34%±13) with HF was recruited from 17 Dutch hospitals during admission. All patients were admitted with symptoms of HF in NYHA classification II, III and IV Data were collected using the Mental Health subscale of the Dutch version of the RAND-36, a Depression Scale (CES-D), the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLwHFQ) and the Cantril's ladder of life (min 0-max 10).
Results: Forty percent (40%) of the patients had symptoms of depression (CES-D ≥16). The mean depression score of the total sample was 15,7 ± 11. Depression was correlated to all quality of life questionnaires, especially to the MLwHFQ Emotional Subscale (r=. 62, p<.01) and the Rand-36 Mental Health subscale (r= −0.23, p<0.01). On the ladder of life patients reported an average of 6,2 ± 3,0. Patients with symptoms of depression reported a 5.2 ±2,1 on the ladder of life (t=5.6, p<0.01), compared to 7.2±3.4 in patients without symptoms of depression. Depression was not related to age but was related to gender (r=0.16, p<0.05).
Conclusions: Quality of life and depression are related in patients with HF. Depression has an impact on physical as well as on mental well being of patients with heart failure.