Depressed patients have higher mortality risk in heart failure
The research group examined 864 patients with "decompensated cardiac insufficiency" - when water retention or shortness of breath occur even at rest - in a hospital with a special questionnaire (PHQ-9) for a depressive mood. A depressed mood was found in 29 percent of all patients. 28 percent of this subgroup had a previously known depression, of which only 50 percent were treated with antidepressants. In the group diagnosed as depressed, 18 percent of the patients died after 27 months, in the group classified as non-depressed 14 percent.