Manifestation of anxiety and depressive disorders in elderly and senile patients with chronic heart failure

The article aims to evaluate the severity of anxiety-depressive disorders (ADD) in elderly and middle-aged female patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Material and methods: A study of 139 patients with CHF Functional Class (FC) 2 and 3 was conducted. The average age was 67.1±10.6 years. Depending on the age characteristic, the patients were divided into three groups: the elderly, senile, and middle-aged groups. Assessment of the severity of depression was conducted using the Hamilton Scale for Depression Assessment (HAM-D) and the Minnesota Quality of Life Assessment Questionnaire (MLHFQ) to assess the impact of CHF on the social aspects of patients' lives. Results: It was found that the highest prevalence of depression in FC II was in elderly patients. The highest prevalence of depression in FC III was observed in the middle-aged group. The analysis showed that there is a pronounced relationship between the degree of depression and CHF FC, which was determined in the age group of elderly patients. The assessment of the correlation between the severity of ADD and the indicators characterizing the severity of CHF showed that there was a noticeable or strong direct correlation between the indicators in the middle and senile age group, which indicates that ADD is a marker of the severity of CHF in patients of these age groups. Conclusion: The presence of ADD affects the physical component of the quality of life, which is proved by reliable results obtained using both the MLHFQ scale and the Clinical status assessment scale (CSAS). At the same time, the influence of the severity of CHF on the mental component was revealed when using HAM-D as a tool for determining ADD.