Depression among cardiovascular disease patients in Libya prevalence and associations: INSPECT study

OBJECTIVE
This study sought to assess the prevalence and identify factors associated with depression among patients with cardiovascular diseases and followed-up in a public teaching hospital.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study was conducted with a systematic random sample of 302 out-patients with cardiovascular disease and followed in the cardiology out-patient department at Tripoli University Hospital. Stable adults (>18 years age) were eligible to be included in this study, Face-to-face interviews were conducted to complete a questionnaire comprising questions on demographic, medical, and lifestyle issues besides the patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) tool. SPSS, Version 22 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY) was used to analyze the data.

Result: Age was ranged between 29 and 84 years with a mean age of 60.6±10.4years, 60.6% were females and 75.8% were married. The highest prevalent morbidity was hypertension (76.2%), followed by DM (48%), IHD (39%), and different types of arrhythmias in 22.8%. 59.3% of screened patients had different degrees of depression from mild to severe. The participants with positive history of psychological problems, those complicated with cardiomyopathy, those who were females, patients with history of CVA, and patients who living alone were more likely to be depressed.


CONCLUSION
prevalence of depression is found to be higher among patients with cardiovascular diseases; family history of psychological illnesses and Cardiomyopathy had the highest contribution as independent predictors for depression. Screening of all patients with cardiovascular diseases is essential to identify and treat the patients at greater risk of depression.