The Association of Co-Morbid Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety With All-Cause Mortality in Patients With Heart Failure Abdullah S. Alhurani, PhDc, MSN, RN ● Rebecca L. Dekker, PhD, RN ● Mona A. Abed, PhD, RN ● Amani Khalil, PhD, RN ● Kyoung Suk Lee, PhD, MPH, RN ● Gia Mudd-Martin, PhD, RN ● Martha J. Biddle, PhD, RN ● Terry A. Lennie, PhD, RN, FAAN ● Debra K. Moser, DNSc, RN, FAAN College of Nursing ● University of Kentucky ● Lexington, KY Replace with logo BACKGROUND METHOD When entered as a categorical variable, co-morbid symptoms of depression and anxiety (versus the other three groups) independently predicted all-cause mortality (HR 2.59; 95% CI: 1.49-4.49; p = 0.001). Heart failure is a major health problem that is responsible for some of the highest mortality and hospitalization rates in the world. Patients with HF experience multiple changes in their heart structure and function that affect the ability of cardiac ventricles to fill with, or eject, blood. In addition, patients with HF experience many psychological symptoms that may contribute to additional physiological changes and affect survival. In the United States, HF and sudden death combined are accountable for the largest number of deaths. Heart failure is the leading cause of hospitalization and discharge among adults patient older than 65, with substantial increases in hospitalization and discharge rates seen every year. The total estimated cost of HF in the United States is $37 billion with an expected increase of $2 billion each year. Although there have been significant medical and surgical advancements in HF treatment, mortality and hospitalizations rates continued to increase every year. The pathophysiology of HF explains a major part of these high rates, however, there are many unexplored psychosocial factors that also likely contribute to poor prognosis. Depression is a major mood disorder that is highly prevalent in HF and is associated with multiple unhealthy behaviors. Anxiety is a negative emotion state that is associated with adverse cardiac events and progression of disease. Anxiety also is highly prevalent in patients with HF. Depression and anxiety are independently associated with survival among HF patients. Whether co-morbid symptoms of anxiety and depression are associated with outcomes in patients with HF is unknown. A total of 1,260 HF patients participated and were followed for mortality outcomes for 12 months. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Brief Symptom Inventory-anxiety subscale (BSI) were used to measure symptoms of depression and anxiety. Cox regression analysis was used to determine whether co-morbid symptoms of depression and anxiety independently predicted all-cause mortality controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, and NYHA class. Depression and anxiety were treated first as continuous level variables, then as categorical variables using standard published cut points. Patients were divided into four groups based on the presence of anxiety and depression symptoms: 1) neither anxiety nor depression, 2) depression alone, 3) anxiety alone, and 4) co-morbid depression and anxiety SUMMARY & IMPLICATIONS Our findings highlighted the hazardous effect of comorbid depressive and anxiety symptoms on the mortality rate of adults with HF. Our findings suggest that psychological factor plays an important role in the mechanism of high mortality rate in HF patients. To improve mortality outcomes in patient with HF, attention must be paid by healthcare providers to the assessment and management of co-morbid symptoms of depression and anxiety. OBJECTIVE We hypothesized that the co-morbid symptoms of depression and anxiety are more strongly associated with all-cause mortality in patients with HF compared to those with anxiety or depression alone. Thus, the purpose of our study was to examine whether co-morbid symptoms of depression and anxiety are associated with all-cause mortality or rehospitalization for cardiac causes in patients with HF. RESULTS When entered as continuous variables, the interaction between anxiety and depression (HR 1.02; 95% CI: 1.01-1.03; p = 0.002) was a significant predictor of all-cause mortality. Acknowledgement NIH/NINR R01 NR008567 (Moser, D.K., PI) NIH/NINR K23 NR013480 (Dekker, R.L., PI) NIH/NINR R01 NR009280 (Lennie, T.L.., PI)