Background: Depressive symptoms are prominent and related to an increased risk on cardiovascular disease outcomes and all cause mortality in HF patients.
Aim: To intervene effectively, factors related to depressive symptoms in men and women should be identified.
Methods: Depressive symptoms of 921 hospitalised HF patients (61% male; age 71+/-11; LVEF 33%+/-14, NYHA II-IV) were assessed by the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale (CES-D).
Results: Overall 40% of the patients had depressive symptoms (CES-D >or=16), which were more common in women than in men (47% versus 36%, p<0.001). Multivariable analysis in men revealed that depressive symptoms were related to age (OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.71-0.98, p=0.03, per 10 years), physical health (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.71-0.83, p<0.001, per 10 units) and HF symptoms. In women depressive symptoms were also related to NYHA II-III versus IV (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.37-0.95, p<0.03) and COPD (OR 2.33, 95% CI 1.20-4.53, p<0.012).
Conclusion: Depressive symptoms are more common in women than in men. In both men and women depressive symptoms are related to age and physical health. For clinical factors: In men only HF symptoms, but in women also NYHA and COPD were related to depressive symptoms.