Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Apr:131:109963.
doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2020.109963. Epub 2020 Feb 11.

Mental health concerns in patients with symptomatic peripheral artery disease: Insights from the PORTRAIT registry

Merrill Thomas  1 , Krishna K Patel  1 , Kensey Gosch  2 , Clementine Labrosciano  3 , Carlos Mena-Hurtado  4 , Robert Fitridge  5 , John A Spertus  1 , Kim G Smolderen  6
Affiliations

Mental health concerns in patients with symptomatic peripheral artery disease: Insights from the PORTRAIT registry

Merrill Thomas et al. J Psychosom Res. 2020 Apr.

Abstract

Objectives: To document the prevalence and patient profiles of mental health concerns in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) seen in the vascular specialty setting.

Methods: In a cohort of 1275 patients presenting to 16 specialty clinics with new or worsening claudication, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress were quantified in 957 patients. The Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8), Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale-2 (GAD-2), and Perceived Stress Scale-4 (PSS-4) were assessed for mental health concerns at the initial PAD work-up and repeated 12 months later. PHQ-8 ≥ 10, GAD-2 ≥ 3 and PSS-4 ≥ 6 were considered significant for depression, anxiety and stress respectively. Patient characteristics were compared in groups divided by presence of 0, 1, 2 or all 3 mental health concerns.

Results: On the initial office visit, 336/957 (35%) of patients had high levels of at least one of the three mental health concerns. At both baseline and 12 months, high levels of perceived stress were most often reported (28.7% and 17.5% respectively), followed by symptoms of depression (14.1% and 8.9%) and then anxiety (8.3% and 5.7%). Patients with mental health concerns were more often female, younger, had more financial strain, less social support, and worse perceived health status.

Conclusions: Mental health concerns, particularly stress, are highly prevalent in patients with PAD, especially upon first presenting with new or worsening symptoms. The role of stress and how it may impede successful PAD management and impact subsequent outcomes warrants further investigation.

Keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Perceived stress; Vascular disease.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Consort diagram describing patients included in this study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Brostow D, Petrik M, Starosta A, Waldo S, Depression in patients with peripheral arterial disease: a systematic review, Eur. J. Cardiovasc. Nurs. 16 (2017) 181–193, 10.1177/1474515116687222. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Regensteiner J, Hiatt W, Coll J, Criqui M, Treat-Jacobson D, McDermott M, et al. , The impact of peripheral arterial disease on health-related quality of life in the peripheral arterial disease awareness, risk, and treatment: new resources for survival (PARTNERS) program, Vasc. Med 13 (2008) 15–24, 10.1177/1358863X07084911. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Smolderen K, Aquarius A, De Vries J, Smith O, Hamming J, Denollet J, Depressive symptoms in peripheral arterial disease: a follow-up study on prevalence, stability, and risk factors, J. Affect. Disord 110 (2008) 27–35, 10.1016/j.jad.2007.12.238. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Smolderen K, Hoeks S, Pedersen S, Van Domburg R, De Liefde I, Poldermans D, Lower-leg symptoms in peripheral arterial disease are associated with anxiety, depression, and anhedonia, Vasc. Med. 14 (2009) 297–304, 10.1177/1358863X09104658. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Pratt LA, Brody DJ. Depression in the U.S. Household Population, 2009–2012. NCHS Data Brief, no 172, CDC/NCHS, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2009–2012. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2014. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db172.htm

Publication types