Depressive disorders in a group of patients after implantation of a cardioverter-defibrillator

Introduction:
Implantation of a cardioverter-defibrillator, used for primary and secondary prevention of sudden cardiac arrest, can lead to depres-sive disorders among some patients, which often results in a worse course of the underlying disease and poorer patient cooperation in the therapeutic process. Aim of the study was assessment of the prevalence and severity of depressive disorders among patients after implantation of a cardioverter-defibrillator and the relationship between the study variables and sociodemographic situation, factors related to the subjects’ health, and the support received by the respondents.

Material and methods:
The study involved a total of 63 patients aged 23-82 years with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. The author’s survey ques-tionnaire (which included questions on sociodemographic data, related to the implanted cardioverter-defibrillator, relating to men-tal health and support received), the BDI-II Beck Depression Inventory, and information from medical records were used to obtain data. Material was statistically analysed using the Statistica 13.1 package from StatSoft, using the Mann-Whitney U-test, Pearson’s Χ² test, and Spearman’s rank correlation test. The level of statistical significance was adopted as p < 0.05.

Results:
The mean score on the BDI-II Beck Depression Inventory for the study group was 23.19 ±12.20 points. Subjects with no or minimal depressive symptoms accounted for 31.7%, individuals with mild symptoms accounted for 14.3%, moderate symptoms accounted for 15.9%, and severe symptoms accounted for 38.1%. The greater the severity of depressive symptoms, the more concerns related to the occurrence of device discharge were reported by respondents (R = 0.33, p = 0.008).

Conclusions:
Evaluation of the mental state of patients with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator may help to diagnose depressive disorders in this group of patients and allow identification of the factors that determine them.