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Anxiety in heart failure patients and its association with NYHA class

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

F. Costa ,
S. Martins ,
E. Moreira ,
J. Silva Cardoso  and
L. Fernandes
F. Costa*
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Neuroscience And Mental Health and Center for health technology and services research (cintesis), Faculty of Medicine - University Porto, Porto, Portugal
S. Martins
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Neuroscience And Mental Health and Center for health technology and services research (cintesis), Faculty of Medicine - University Porto, Porto, Portugal
E. Moreira
Affiliation:
Center For Health Technology And Services Research (cintesis), Faculty of Medicine - University Porto, Porto, Portugal
J. Silva Cardoso
Affiliation:
Center For Health Technology And Services Research (cintesis), Faculty of Medicine - University Porto, Porto, Portugal Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine - University Porto, Porto, Portugal Department of Cardiology, Centro Hospitalar Universitário S. João (CHUSJ), Porto, Portugal
L. Fernandes
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Neuroscience And Mental Health and Center for health technology and services research (cintesis), Faculty of Medicine - University Porto, Porto, Portugal Psychiatry Service, Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João, Porto, Portugal, Porto, Portugal
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Heart failure (HF) is a worldwide public health problem and the main cause of morbidity and mortality in older people. Previous studies have demonstrated that psychological symptoms are associated with worse cardiovascular outcomes. Nevertheless, the research regarding the association between anxiety and HF is still scarce.

Objectives

To analyse the levels of anxiety in HF patients and its association with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class in HF patients.

Methods

This study takes part of a wider project named Deus Ex-Machina project (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-00026). HF patients were recruited from an outpatient clinic at a University Hospital. Patient with inability to communicate, with severe visual impairment or with NYHA class IV were excluded. Sociodemographic data and NYHA class were recorded. Anxiety was assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7).

Results

Overall, 136 patients were included, with a mean age of 57(±13) years old. Most of them were men (66%) and married (76%), with mean education of 8 years (±4). Regarding NYHA class, 36%, 49% and 15% were at class I, II and III, respectively. The mean GAD-7 total score was 6.4 (±5.2) and 32% of patients showed moderate to severe anxiety symptoms. No association between the NYHA functional class and anxiety was found (p=0.106).

Conclusions

The results reveal that anxiety is frequent among HF patients. However, as found in previous studies, it was not associated with more severe HF symptoms. The coexistence of HF and anxiety deserves further studies, in order to build a better understanding of this association.

Keywords

Anxietyheart failureNYHA class
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S190
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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