Managing depression, fatigue in patients with heart failure may reduce hospital stays, mortality
A study in the American Journal of Critical Care ( AJCC ) examines the complex relationship between fatigue, depression and gender in patients with heart failure and the effect on hospitalization. The study, "Differing Effects of Fatigue and Depression on Hospitalizations in Men and Women With Heart Failure," found that fatigue and depression may affect hospitalization separately but do not have synergistic effects. Men and women differ in the effects of these symptoms on hospitalization. A team of researchers from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Little Rock, reviewed data from the records of 9,869 patients who had been hospitalized for any reason at UAMS with a diagnosis of heart failure during a three-year period from Jan. 1, 2010, through Dec. 31, 2012. All study variables -- hospitalizations, demographic characteristics, vital signs, comorbid conditions, results of laboratory tests, clinical characteristics and medications -- were present i...