Association between depression and worse disease-specific functional status in outpatients with coronary artery disease.
BACKGROUND
The objective of this study was to determine if depression is associated with worse disease-specific functional status in patients with coronary artery disease. The study was designed as a cross-sectional survey and 3-month longitudinal cohort.


RESULTS
The study took place in outpatient clinics of 3 Veterans Administration hospitals. All 7282 enrollees were surveyed and 4560 (62.6%) returned baseline questionnaires, including a screening instrument for depression. Thirty-nine percent (n = 1793) reported evidence of coronary artery disease and 1282 patients (71.5%) returned the Seattle Angina Questionnaire; 1025 patients (80%) completed a subsequent 3-month series of instruments. Main outcome measures used were the Seattle Angina Questionnaire, a valid, reliable, and responsive disease-specific functional status measure for patients with coronary disease, and the Mental Health Inventory, a mental health screening instrument from the Short Form-36. Mental Health Inventory evidence of depression was associated with significantly worse disease-specific functional status. Depressed patients had more physical limitation (mean difference in Seattle Angina Questionnaire score = 16.9, P <.001), more frequent angina (mean difference in Seattle Angina Questionnaire score = 9.5, P <.001), less satisfaction with their treatment for coronary artery disease (mean difference in Seattle Angina Questionnaire score = 9.9, P <.001), and lower perceived quality of life (mean difference in Seattle Angina Questionnaire score = 16.3, P <.001) than nondepressed patients. Frequency of depressive symptoms demonstrated an inverse relation with cardiac-specific functional status and when patients' depression status changed over time, so did their cardiac-specific health status.


CONCLUSIONS
Depression is associated with significantly more physical limitation, more frequent angina, less treatment satisfaction, and lower perceived quality of life in outpatients with coronary artery disease.
Spertus
J A
JA
Mid America Heart Institute and Section of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Missouri-Kansas City, USA. jspertus@saint-lukes.org
McDonell
M
M
Woodman
C L
CL
Fihn
S D
SD
D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000787:Angina Pectoris / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007484:Iowa / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011336:Probability; D011788:Quality of Life; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires