A course of coronary heart disease and quality of life in patients with varying depressivestates

Aim. To study a course of coronary heart disease (CHD) in patients with depressive disorders.
Material and methods. The trial included 77 CHD patients aged 39 to 68 years (mean age
54.9 + 0.9 years), 40 (51,9%) of them had myocardial infarction. All the examinees had effort angina
of functional class II-IV by criteria of the Canadian Cardiology Association. All the patients have undergone standard clinical examination, stress tests, coronaroangiography (n = 30), assessment of the
degree of vegetative dystonia and quality of life. The patients were divided into two groups depending
on the depression degree.
Results. CHD patients with manifest depression vs those with subclinical depression had a higher level
of personality and reactive anxiety. They had neurotic and psychopathological personality alterations
associated with more pronounced vegetative disorders.
These patients suffered from more severe coronary atherosclerosis, more hospitalizations for the previous year, more myocardial infarctions, lower physical activity and quality of life.
Conclusion. CHD patients with manifest depression have lower physical performance and quality of
life though this is not confirmed at exercise tests.

coronary heart disease, depression, psychovegetative status, quality of life