Association of Depressive Symptoms and Micronutrient Deficiency With Cardiac Event–Free Survival in Patients With Heart Failure

• Coexistence of micronutrient deficiency and depressive symptoms predicted shortest cardiac event-free survival in patients with HF.
• Micronutrient deficiency contributed to the association of depressive symptoms with shorter cardiac event-free survival in patients with HF.
• Continuous monitoring for depressive symptoms and nutritional intake should be incorporated into routine care of patients with HF.
• Future research is needed to determine the underlying mechanisms linking depressive symptoms, micronutrient intake, and cardiac event–free survival in patients with HF.

BackgroundDepressive symptoms and malnutrition independently predict cardiac events in heart failure (HF) patients. However, the relationships among depressive symptoms, nutritional intake, and cardiac event–free survival have not been examined.Methods and ResultsA total of 232 patients with HF completed the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) to measure depressive symptoms and a 3-day food diary to determine the number of micronutrient deficiencies. Patients were followed for 2 years to collect data on cardiac event–free survival. Patients were divided into 4 groups by a PHQ-9 score of 10 and the median value of micronutrient deficiencies. Cox regressions were used to determine the relationships among depressive symptoms, micronutrient deficiency, and cardiac event–free survival. Depressive symptoms conferred greater risk of cardiac events in patients with a high number of micronutrient deficiencies than in those with a low number of micronutrient deficiencies. Patients with a PHQ-9 score ≥10 and number of micronutrient deficiencies >5 had 2.4 times higher risk for cardiac events compared with patients with a PHQ-9 score <10 and micronutrient deficiency ≤5 (P = .005).ConclusionsThere was a synergistic effect on the association of depressive symptoms with cardiac event–free survival in HF patients that differed by micronutrient deficiency.