Background: Anxiety and depression symptoms are common among cardiac patients. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is frequently used to measure symptoms of anxiety and depression; however, no study on the validity and reliability of the scale in Danish cardiac patients has been done. The aim, therefore, was to evaluate the psychometric properties of HADS in a large sample of Danish patients with the four most common cardiac diagnoses: ischemic heart disease, arrhythmias, heart failure and heart valve disease. Methods: The DenHeart study was designed as a national cross-sectional survey including the HADS, SF-12 and HeartQoL and combined with data from national registers. Psychometric evaluation included analyses of floor and ceiling effects, structural validity using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and hypotheses testing of convergent and divergent validity by relating the HADS scores to the SF-12 and HeartQoL. Internal consistency reliability was evaluated by Cronbach's alpha, and differential item functioning by gender was examined using ordinal logistic regression. Results: A total of 12,806 patients (response rate 51%) answered the HADS. Exploratory factor analysis supported the original two-factor structure of the HADS, while confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-factor structure consisting of the original depression subscale and two anxiety subscales as suggested in a previous study. There were floor effects on all items and ceiling effect on item 8. The hypotheses regarding convergent validity were confirmed but those regarding divergent validity for HADS-D were not. Internal consistency was good with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.87 for HADS-A and 0.82 for HADS-D. There were no indications of noticeable differential item functioning by gender for any items. Conclusions: The present study supported the evidence of convergent validity and high internal consistency for both HADS outcomes in a large sample of Danish patients with cardiac disease. There are, however, conflicting results regarding the factor structure of the scale consistent with previous research. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01926145.

ObjectiveTo explore whether living alone and loneliness 1) are associated with poor patient-reported outcomes at hospital discharge and 2) predict cardiac events and mortality 1 year after hospital discharge in women and men with ischaemic heart disease, arrhythmia, heart failure or heart valve disease.MethodsA national cross-sectional survey including patients with known cardiac disease at hospital discharge combined with national register data at baseline and 1-year follow-up. Loneliness was evaluated using one self-reported question, and information on cohabitation was available from national registers. Patient-reported outcomes were Short Form-12, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and HeartQoL. Clinical outcomes were 1-year cardiac events (myocardial infarction, stroke, cardiac arrest, ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation) and all-cause mortality from national registers.ResultsA total of 13 443 patients (53%) with ischaemic heart disease, arrhythmia, heart failure or heart valve disease completed the survey. Of these, 70% were male, and mean age was 66.1 among women and 64.9 among men. Across cardiac diagnoses, loneliness was associated with significantly poorer patient-reported outcomes in men and women. Loneliness predicted all-cause mortality among women and men (HR 2.92 (95% CI 1.55 to 5.49) and HR 2.14 (95% CI 1.43 to 3.22), respectively). Living alone predicted cardiac events in men only (HR 1.39 (95% CI 1.05 to 1.85)).ConclusionsA strong association between loneliness and poor patient-reported outcomes and 1-year mortality was found in both men and women across cardiac diagnoses. The results suggest that loneliness should be a priority for public health initiatives, and should also be included in clinical risk assessment in cardiac patients.

Aim Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) may predict poor clinical outcome in patients with heart failure (HF). It remains unclear whether PROMs are associated with subsequent adherence to HF medication. We aimed to determine whether health-related quality of life, anxiety and depression were associated with long-term medication adherence in these patients. Methods and results A national cohort study of Danish patients with HF with three-year follow-up (n = 1,464). PROMs included the EuroQol five-dimensional, five-level questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L), the HeartQoL and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Patient-reported outcomes (PRO) data were linked to demographic and clinical data at baseline, and data on all redeemed prescriptions for angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin II receptor blockers/angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitors (ACEI/ARB/ARNI), β-blockers and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs) during follow-up. Medication non-adherence was defined as < 80% of proportion of days covered (PDC). In adjusted regression analyses, lower health-related quality of life (EQ-5D and HeartQoL) and symptoms of depression (HADS-D) at discharge were associated with non-adherence. After three years of follow-up, lower health-related quality of life (EQ-5D) was associated with non-adherence for ACEI/ARB/ARNI (adjusted OR 2.78, 95% CI:1.19-6.49), β-blockers (adjusted OR 2.35, 95% CI:1.04-5.29), whereas HADS-D was associated with non-adherence for ACEI/ARB/ARNI (adjusted OR 1.07, 95% CI:1.03-1.11) and β-blockers (adjusted OR 1.06, 95% CI:1.02-1.10). Conclusion Lower health-related quality of life and symptoms of depression were associated with non-adherence across HF medications at one- and three years of follow-up. Person-centred care using PROMs may carry a potential for identifying patients at increased risk of future medication non-adherence.

Patients with primary indication ICDs and cardiac resynchronisation therapy ICDs report worse patient-reported outcomes than patients with secondary indication and no cardiac resynchronisation therapy. Patient-reported outcomes such as mental health, quality of life and symptom burden predict one-year mortality and acute and planned hospital readmissions.

Background: Same-day discharge of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) may challenge preparation of patients for discharge. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate whether nurse-led telephone follow-up influenced patients' self-management post-PCI. Methods: We performed a randomized study with an allocation rate of 1:1. A standardized nurse-led motivational telephone consultation was conducted between 2 and 5 days after PCI to support adherence to medical therapy, follow-up activities, emotional well-being, and healthy lifestyle. The control group received usual care and discharge procedures. Primary outcome was adherence to use of P2Y12 inhibitor (clopidogrel or ticagrelor) therapy at 30 days of follow-up. Results: We consecutively included 294 elective patients (83%) undergoing PCI and with planned same-day discharge. Adherence to P2Y12 inhibitors was not influenced by the intervention (intervention vs control, 95% vs 93%, respectively; P = .627). However, the proportion of patients readmitted (8% vs 16%, P = .048), as well as self-initiated contacts to general practitioners (29% vs 42%, P = .020), was lower in the intervention group compared with the control group. Patients in the intervention group were more likely to know how to manage symptoms of angina pectoris (90% vs 80%, P = .015), and a higher proportion of patients in the intervention group commenced healthy physical activities (53% vs 41%, P = .043). Conclusion: Nurse-led motivational telephone follow-up did not influence adherence to antiplatelet medical therapy after PCI. However, the intervention positively influenced self-management of angina pectoris and reduced hospital readmissions and self-initiated contacts to general practitioners and hospitals.