Background: There have been few studies of the effect of depression on rehospitalization in patients with heart failure (HF), and even fewer on its role in multiple rehospitalizations.
Hypothesis: Depression is an independent risk factor for multiple readmissions in patients with HF.
Methods: A cohort of 662 patients with HF who were discharged alive after hospitalization were interviewed to evaluate symptoms of depression and were followed for 1 year. All-cause readmissions were documented by chart review. A marginal proportional rates model was used to model the effect of depression on the rate of rehospitalization with adjustment for known predictors of HF outcomes.
Results: Depression symptoms predicted multiple readmissions (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 1.08, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03-1.13, P = 0.0008). Compared with patients without depression, those who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) criteria for major depression at index were at the highest risk for multiple rehospitalizations (HR: 1.51, 95% CI: 1.15-1.97, P = 0.003).
Conclusions: Depression is an independent risk factor for multiple all-cause readmissions in patients with HF.
© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.