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Symptoms of anxiety after heart transplantation and their association with mortality: A secondary analysis
Author(s) -
Bürker Britta S.,
Malt Ulrik F.,
Gude Einar,
Grov Ingelin,
Relbo Authen Anne,
Dew Mary Amanda,
Gullestad Lars
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
clinical transplantation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.918
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1399-0012
pISSN - 0902-0063
DOI - 10.1111/ctr.14323
Subject(s) - medicine , anxiety , hazard ratio , depression (economics) , univariate analysis , proportional hazards model , multivariate analysis , transplantation , heart transplantation , psychiatry , confidence interval , economics , macroeconomics
Background Few studies, with inconclusive results, have examined the association of anxiety with mortality after heart transplantation (HTx). We examined whether anxiety symptoms, measured several years after HTx, are associated with increased mortality during long‐term follow‐up. Methods Anxiety symptoms were measured with the anxiety subscale of the Symptom Checklist‐90‐R (SCL‐90‐R) in 142 HTx recipients at a mean of 5.7 years (SD: 3.9) after HTx. Anxiety symptoms’ impact on mortality during follow‐up for up to 18.6 years was examined with Cox proportional hazard models. We accounted for relevant sociodemographic and clinical variables, including depressive symptoms (measured by the depression subscale of the SCL‐90‐R), in the multivariate analyses. In additional analyses, we explored the combined effect of anxious and depressive symptomatology. Results Anxiety symptoms were not significantly associated with mortality (univariate analysis: HR (95% CI): 1.04 (0.75–1.45); p = .813). Exploration of the combined effect of anxious and depressive symptomatology on mortality rendered non‐significant results. Depressive symptoms were independently associated with mortality (multivariate analysis: HR (95% CI): 1.86 (1.07–3.24); p = .028). Conclusions Depressive symptoms’ negative impact on survival after HTx was confirmed, while anxiety symptoms were not significantly associated with mortality during long‐term follow‐up. Anxiety symptoms’ predictive role after HTx requires further study.