Symptom Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression in Older Cardiac Arrest Survivors: A Comparative Nationwide Register Study

Abstract

Knowledge about psychological distress in older cardiac arrest (CA) survivors is sparse, and the lack of comparisons with general populations make it difficult to draw any strong conclusions about prevalence and potential changes caused by CA. Our aim was to compare psychological distress between older CA survivors and a general population. This study included survivors 65–80 years old and an age- and sex-matched general population. Data on survivors was collected from the Swedish Register of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was used to measure psychological distress. Data were analyzed with non-parametric statistics. The final sample included 1,027 CA survivors and 1018 persons from the general population. In both groups, the mean age was 72 years (SD = 4) and 28% were women. The prevalence of anxiety was 9.9% for survivors and 9.5% for the general population, while the corresponding prevalence for depression was 11.3% and 11.5% respectively. Using the cut-off scores, no significant differences between the groups were detected. However, CA survivors reported significantly lower symptom levels using the subscale scores (ΔMdn = 1, p < 0.001). In conclusion, the CA survivors did not report higher symptom levels of anxiety and depression than the general population. However, since psychological distress is related to poor quality-of-life and recovery, screening for psychological distress remains important.

Life satisfaction in cardiac arrest survivors: A nationwide Swedish registry study

“… 29 However, two large Swedish studies have not found any major differences in symptoms of anxiety and depression among CA survivors compared to a general population. 1 , 30 In fact, the study by Årestedt et al showed that older CA survivors reported significantly less symptoms of anxiety and depression compared to a gender and age matched general population. However, that study included only older survivors, 65–80 years.…”

“…However, that study included only older survivors, 65–80 years. 30 In any case, since there seems to be a clear association between psychological health and overall life satisfaction, it is important to screen CA survivors for psychological health problems to identify those in need of psychological support and treatment, which is also recommended in current ERC guidelines. 31 …”

Guidelines for Neuroprognostication in Comatose Adult Survivors of Cardiac Arrest

“…Discussions with patient and family representatives also highlighted the importance of lesser-studied outcomes following cardiac arrest. Several studies have established that cognitive dysfunction, anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and impairment of health-related quality of life are common in long-term survivors of cardiac arrest [162][163][164][165][166][167][168][169][170]. However, in addition to examining predictors of impairments in these domains, future prospective studies should use standardized instruments and time points for evaluation and compare occurrence with that in an age-and sex-matched control population.…”