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
. 2024 Jan 23;83(3):430-441.
doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2023.10.043.

Anxiety and Depression in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease

Affiliations
Free article

Anxiety and Depression in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease

Adrienne H Kovacs et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. .
Free article

Abstract

Background: A comprehensive understanding of adult congenital heart disease outcomes must include psychological functioning. Our multisite study offered the opportunity to explore depression and anxiety symptoms within a global sample.

Objectives: In this substudy of the APPROACH-IS (Assessment of Patterns of Patient-Reported Outcomes in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease-International Study), the authors we investigated the prevalence of elevated depression and anxiety symptoms, explored associated sociodemographic and medical factors, and examined how quality of life (QOL) and health status (HS) differ according to the degree of psychological symptoms.

Methods: Participants completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, which includes subscales for symptoms of anxiety (HADS-A) and depression (HADS-D). Subscale scores of 8 or higher indicate clinically elevated symptoms and can be further categorized as mild, moderate, or severe. Participants also completed analogue scales on a scale of 0 to 100 for QOL and HS. Analysis of variance was performed to investigate whether QOL and HS differed by symptom category.

Results: Of 3,815 participants from 15 countries (age 34.8 ± 12.9 years; 52.7% female), 1,148 (30.1%) had elevated symptoms in one or both subscales: elevated HADS-A only (18.3%), elevated HADS-D only (2.9%), or elevations on both subscales (8.9%). Percentages varied among countries. Both QOL and HS decreased in accordance with increasing HADS-A and HADS-D symptom categories (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: In this global sample of adults with congenital heart disease, almost one-third reported elevated symptoms of depression and/or anxiety, which in turn were associated with lower QOL and HS. We strongly advocate for the implementation of strategies to recognize and manage psychological distress in clinical settings. (Patient-Reported Outcomes in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease [APPROACH-IS]; NCT02150603).

Keywords: adult congenital heart disease; anxiety; depression; quality of life.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Funding Support and Author Disclosures This work was supported by the Research Fund–KU Leuven (Leuven, Belgium) through grant OT/11/033, by the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation (Sweden) through grant number 20130607, by the University of Gothenburg Centre for Person-Centered Care (Gothenburg, Sweden), by the Cardiac Children’s Foundation (Taiwan) through grant CCF2013_02, by the Research Foundation Flanders through grant 1159522N, and by the Ricerca Corrente funding from the Italian Ministry of Health to IRCCS Policlinico San Donato. Furthermore, this work was endorsed by and conducted in collaboration with the International Society for Adult Congenital Heart Disease. The authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.

Comment in

Publication types

Associated data