Association of free fatty acids with anxiety and depression in elderly patients with chronic heart failure / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To analyze whether free fatty acids(FFA)are associated with anxiety and depression in elderly patients with chronic heart failure(CHF).Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in patients by using questionnaires.According to the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and the Self-Rating Depression Scale(SDS),126 patients were divided into the depression group (n=94),non-depression group (n =32),and anxiety group (n =48),and non-anxiety group (n =78).The difference in FFA levels between the two groups was analyzed.Moreover,the association of FFA with anxiety and depression was analyzed Results The incidence of anxiety in elderly patients with CHF was 38.1％(48 cases),and the incidence of depression was 74.6％ (94 cases).FFA levels were higher in both the anxiety and depression groups than in the non-anxiety and non-depression groups [(559.9 ± 256.2)μmol/L vs.(393.8 ± 147.8) μmol/L,(573.8 ± 264.7)μmol/L vs.(483.2 ± 225.2)μmol/L,P＜0.05 and 0.01)].The FFA level was positively correlated with SAS and SDS in elderly patients with CHF(r=0.214 and 0.275,P＜0.05 and 0.01).Multivariate regression analysis showed that the FFA level was a risk factor for elderly CHF patients with anxiety(β=0.074,95％CI0.024～0.125,P=0.004)and depression(β=0.084,95％CI0.022～0.145,P=0.008).Conclusions FFA levels are correlated with anxiety and depression in elderly patients with CHF.The FFA level is a risk factor for anxiety and depression in elderly patients with CHF.Psychological intervention should be carried out early in CHF patients with high levels of FFA to reduce the incidence of anxiety and depression.