Acute pulmonary embolism: afterwards often long anxiety and depression

Erkenntnis

Up to 2 Years after hospitalization for acute pulmonary embolism (LE), every 5. Patient with anxiety and/or depression symptoms.
Risk factors include history of depression, high-risk PE, low oxygen saturation upon ingestion, and persistent dyspnea.

Why this matters

The high prevalence of anxiety and depression suggests that careful monitoring of patients’ mental health up to 2 years after an acute LE is justified.

Study design

Prospective cohort study called pulmonary embolism Augsburg (n = 297), conducted at Augsburg University Hospital, Germany.
The cohort was 3, 6, 12 and 24 months after an acute LE hospital admission for depression and anxiety symptoms.
Anxiety and depression were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.The cutoff was a score of ≥ 8 points.
Sociodemographic and clinical risk factors were also investigated.
Funding: None

Key results

The average age of the cohort was 64 years (interquartile range: 55–74 years), and 55.6—% were male.
9 % had a recurrent&nbsp to baseline; LE, 10.8 % have a history of depression and 53 % have a high risk of LE-related death (score of ≥ 1 in the Simplified Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index [ sPESI]).
3 months after an acute LE showed 23.1 % depression and 21.6 % anxiety symptoms.
2 years after an acute LE, the prevalence of depression decreased to 19 , while the prevalence of anxiety increased to 24 %.
risk factors for depression according to 3 Months:
- Age (p = 0.012)
- Length of hospitalization (p = 0.012)
- sPESI of ≥ 1 (p = 0.026)
- History of depression (p <0.001)
- Oxygen saturation of <90 % on intake (p = 0, 006)
Risk factor for anxiety according to 3 months:
- Length of hospital stay (p = 0.031)
Persistent dyspnea and restrictions on daily activities were independent risk factors for depression (p <0.001) and anxiety (respectively p <0.001).