Depression and disease severity as correlates of everyday physical activity in heart transplant candidates.
It is unclear to what extent patients awaiting heart transplantation (HTx) engage in physical activities. We examined the everyday physical activity and its associations with depressive symptoms and disease severity in 318 patients newly registered for HTx in the multi-site study 'Waiting for a New Heart' (aged 53.5 +/- 11.4 years, 18% female patients). Participants completed questionnaires assessing depressive symptomatology and physical activity (number of physical activities, caloric expenditure associated with each activity), and estimated the distance they were able to walk without a break. Medical parameters at the time of listing [e.g. peak oxygen consumption (peakVO(2)); the German Transplant Society Score (GTSS)] were provided by Eurotransplant. Almost 50% of patients engaged in activities of daily living (housework, walking), but <10% engaged in regular exercise. All physical activity measures correlated significantly with peakVO(2) (Ps < 0.01). Elevated depression scores were present in 39% of patients. Controlling for confounding variables (e.g. peakVO(2), diastolic blood pressure, GTSS, age), depressive symptomatology accounted for additional variance in all physical activity measures (Ps < 0.05). The association of depressive symptoms with reduced physical activity suggests two important perspectives: attempts to increase physical activity (especially in the area of daily living) might benefit from targeting depression, and increased physical activity might also help to reduce depressive symptoms.
Psychologisches Institut, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, Germany. spaderna@uni-mainz.de
Heike
H
Spaderna
Daniela
D
Zahn
Stefanie
S
Schulze Schleithoff
Thomas
T
Stadlbauer
Leopold
L
Rupprecht
Jacqueline M A
JM
Smits
Heinz Walter
HW
Krohne
Thomas
T
Münzel
Gerdi
G
Weidner
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D015897:Comorbidity; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D057234:Preoperative Period; D011584:Psychology; D012042:Registries; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014850:Waiting Lists