Pre-transplant depression as a predictor of adherence and morbidities after orthotopic heart transplantation

Background: Psychosocial factors are useful predictors of adverse outcomes after solid organ transplantation. Although depression is a known predictor of poor outcomes in patients who undergo orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) and is actively screened for during pre-transplant evaluation, the effects of early identification of this entity on post-transplant outcomes are not clearly understood. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of pre-transplant depression on outcomes after OHT. Method: In this retrospective study, 51 patients that underwent psychosocial evaluation performed by a social worker prior to the transplant and followed up in our center post-transplant were enrolled. Patients were stratified by the presence/absence of depression during the initial encounter. Primary end-points were overall survival, 1st-year hospitalizations, overall hospitalizations, rejections, and compliance with medications and outpatient appointments. Results: Depressed patients were 3.5 times more likely to be non-compliant with medications; RR = 3.5, 95% CI (1.2,10.2), p = 0.046 and had higher incidence of first year hospitalizations (4.7 +/- 3.1 vs. 2.2 +/- 1.9, p = 0.046), shorter time to first hospitalization 25 days (IQR 17-39) vs. 100 days (IQR 37-229), p = 0.001. Patients with depression also had higher overall hospitalizations (8.3 +/- 4.4 vs. 4.6 +/- 4.2, p = 0.025,) and higher number of admissions for infections (2.8 +/- 1.3 vs. 1.5 +/- 1.4, p = 0.018) compared to patients without depression. There were no statistically significant differences in total number of rejections or compliance with outpatient appointments. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis did not reveal differences between the two groups (mean 3705 vs. 3764 days, log-rank p = 0.52). Conclusion: Depression was a strong predictor of poor medication compliance and higher rates of hospitalization in transplant recipients. No difference in survival between depressed and non-depressed patients after OHT was noted.