Determinants of depression in patients with comorbid depression following cardiac rehabilitation

Background A prior history of depression, at the point patients start cardiac rehabilitation (CR), is associated with poor outcomes; however, little is known about which factors play a part in determining the extent of benefit following CR. Therefore, we aim to identify and evaluate determinants of CR depression outcomes in patients with comorbid depression. Methods An observational study of routine practice using the British Heart Foundation National Audit of Cardiac Rehabilitation data between April 2012 and March 2017. Baseline characteristics were examined with independent samples t-test and χ2 test. A binary logistic regression was used to predict change in depression outcome following CR. Results The analysis included 2715 CR participants with depression history. The determinants of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) depression measurement post-CR were higher total number of comorbidities (OR 0.914, 95%CI 0.854 to 0.979), a higher HADS anxiety score (OR 0.883, 95%CI 0.851 to 0.917), physical inactivity (OR 0.707, 95%CI 0.514 to 0.971), not-smoking at baseline (OR 1.774, 95%CI 1.086 to 2.898) and male gender (OR 0.721, 95%CI 0.523 to 0.992). Conclusion Baseline characteristics of patients with comorbid depression such as higher anxiety, higher total number of comorbidities, smoking, physical inactivity and male gender were predictors of their depression levels following CR. CR programmes need to be aware of comorbid depression and these related patient characteristics associated with better CR outcomes.