Trial Results Associate Depression With Increased Mortality Risk

OPERA-HF, an ongoing observational study enrolling patients hospitalized with heart failure, found that moderate to severe depression is associated with a 5-fold increased risk of all cause mortality in patients with heart failure. The results from OPERA-HF show that risk was independent of comorbidities and severity of heart failure, and patients who were not depressed had a significantly lower risk of death.

In a statement, professor John Cleland, chief investigator of OPERA-HF and professor of cardiology at Imperial College London and the University of Hull, UK, said: "Patients with heart failure are at high risk of recurrent hospital admissions and death. Approximately 25% of patients admitted to hospital with heart failure are readmitted for a variety of reasons within 1 month. Within one year, most patients will have had 1 or more readmissions and almost half will have died."

Original article on ScienceDaily: http://bit.ly/1LFccgf