During the pandemic, depression increased hospital visits for chest pain treatment
According to a new study, depression remained common during the pandemic and worsened for some patients, leading to increased visits to the emergency department for treatment of anxiety and chest pain.
During the first year of the pandemic in the United States, nearly 40% of patients studied reported new or continuing symptoms of depression, according to the study.
“These findings are important. We are already seeing mental health effects on our patients in the first year of the pandemic “Heidi T. May of the Intermountain Healthcare Heart Institute was the lead researcher on the study.
“We know that it is a strong risk factor for cardiovascular disease; and if people become more depressed as a result of the pandemic, we could see a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease in a few years,” May added.
The team examined 4,633 patients who completed a depression screening, which is a standard part of primary care, before and during the Covid-19 pandemic for the study.
“Before” refers to the period from March 1, 2019, to February 29, 2020, and “during” refers to the period from March 1, 2020, to April 20, 2021.
Patients were divided into two groups: those who had no depression or were no longer depressed, and those who were depressed or became depressed.
According to the study, which was presented at the American Heart Association’s virtual 2021 Scientific Session, patients were then assessed for follow-up emergency department visits for anxiety and chest pain using electronic health records.
Researchers discovered that depression screening scores among depressed patients were higher during the pandemic than before it. Anxiety-related emergency department visits were also associated with depression.
They discovered that people with depression were 2.8 times more likely to visit an emergency room for anxiety than those who were not, and anxiety with chest pains were 1.8 times more likely to visit an emergency room than non-depressed patients.
