John Levine, Nicholas Covino, Donna Safran, Jason Boro, Greg Buchanan,. Charles Safran, Warner Slack, Ernest Gervino. Beth Israel Hospital/Harvard Medical ...
PSYCHOLOGICAL DEPRESSION AS A PREDICTOR OF SUBSEQUENT MEDICAL UTILIZATION IN CARDIAC PATIENTS John Levine, Nicholas Covino, Donna Safran, Jason Boro, Greg Buchanan, Charles Safran, Warner Slack, Ernest Gervino Beth Israel Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Departments of Psychiatry and Medicine, Boston, MA. Numerous Studies have shown evidence that psychological depression (PD) is related to coronary artery disease (CAD). Previous investigators have shown a relationship between psychological depression and medical utilization in the general medical inpatient population. The predictive power of psychological distress for re-hospitalization (RH) In cardiac patients has not been addressed. The purpose of this study was to address whether PD in patients with CAD was associated with the amount of medical care required post-discharge as well as their subsequent functional capacity (FC). Psychological status and FC were measured by questionnaires obtained from 210 hospitalized patients with CAD at 0, 3, and 6 mos post-discharge. On admission, 67 patients had myocardial infarction, 75 patients underwent percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, and 68 patients had coronary artery bypass and graft. Increased PD predicted subsequent RH (p
