Depressive symptoms and the relationship of inflammation to physical signs and symptoms in heart failure patients

Background: Depressive symptoms in patients with heart failure can affect the relationship between physical signs and symptoms and inflammation. Objective: To examine the relationship between soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor I and physical signs and symptoms and the effects of depressive symptoms on this relationship in patients with heart failure. Methods: Data on physical signs and symptoms (Symptom Status Questionnaire-Heart Failure), depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory-II), and levels of the receptor (blood samples) were collected from 145 patients with heart failure. Data on the receptor were square root transformed to achieve normality. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to their scores for depressive symptoms (nondepressed <14 and depressed ≥14). Hierarchical multiple regression was used to analyze the data. Results: In the total sample, with controls for covariates, higher levels of the receptor were significantly related to more severe physical signs and symptoms (F = 7.915; P <.001). In subgroup analyses, with controls for covariates, levels of the receptor were significantly related to physical signs and symptoms only in the patients without depression (F = 3.174; P =.005). Conclusion: Both depressive symptoms and inflammation should be considered along with physical signs and symptoms in patients with heart failure. Further studies are needed to determine the effects of improvement in inflammation on improvement in physical signs and symptoms, with consideration given to the effects of depressive symptoms.