title: Routine screening for depression and quality of life in outpatients with congestive heart failure.
abstract: The influence of depression and perceived quality of life (QoL) on symptom perception and prognosis in congestive heart failure is well known. The authors therefore introduced routine questionnaire screening for these parameters in patients attending their outpatient heart failure clinic (N=320). The authors found QoL to be significantly reduced, and almost every third patient screened positive for a depressive disorder. These patients got a clearly-defined treatment offer. The present study demonstrates that screening for depression and QoL is feasible without being too complex or time-consuming and easily implementable in an interdisciplinary outpatient setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic and General Clinical Medicine, Medical University, Hospital Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 410, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. Nicole_Holzapfel@med.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Holzapfel
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zugck
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Müller-Tasch
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Löwe
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wild
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schellberg
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nelles
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Remppis
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Katus
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Herzog
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jünger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients; D011788:Quality of Life