Depression and Congestive Heart Failure in Outpatients.

Overview

Patients with a diagnosis of CHF, NYHA class II, III or IV will be recruited for a study comparing a nursing intervention addressing CHF (SIM group) or CHF and depression (CIM group). Participants in the standard illness management program will receive an 8-week, 8-session intervention designed to help them improve daily weighing, salt-restriction, medication management, etc. This intervention will be conducted in a combination of home visits and phone visits. They will also receive interactive, telephone-based daily monitoring that assesses daily weight, dyspnea, fatigue and medication compliance. Patients in the comorbid illness management program will receive the same illness management program PLUS education and behavioral techniques designed to help them cope emotionally with the illness. The comorbid illness management home monitoring will include a twice-monthly screen for depression. Major Variables: The major outcomes will be depressive symptoms, health-related quality of life, functional status, heart failure symptom severity, and self-care behaviors in heart failure.

Background: Between 4 and 5% of patients seen at Veterans Affairs Medical Centers suffer heart failure. HF is the number one discharge diagnosis within the VHA. One of the most significant comorbidities in heart failure is depression. Depression predicts increased hospitalization and mortality even after controlling for key prognostic indicators. This HSR\&D study aimed to test the effectiveness of a psychotherapy intervention for depression combined with illness management to illness management alone in veterans with heart failure. Objectives: To demonstrate better depression, health-related quality-of-life, and adherence outcomes for an illness management combined with psychotherapy intervention (COMBO) as compared to an illness management alone program (IMO). Methods: This was a two-site, two-arm, randomized controlled trial comparing COMBO to IMO. The total number of patients recruited for the study was 148. Retention was comparable between groups, though depression severity predicted drop out in the IMO condition but not the COMBO condition. Patients completed study assessments at baseline, week 4, week 8 (post-intervention) and at 26- and 52-week follow-up. Status: The main study analyses have been conducted. The project team is conducting analysis of secondary hypotheses