Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Patients on Ventricular Assist Device Support: Something to Worry About?

Background Psychosocial outcome in ventricular assist device (VAD) patients continues to merit evaluation including posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Methods A cross‐sectional multicenter study collected data from 265 VAD patients, mean age was 59 ± 11yrs, 88% ( N = 234) were male. Standardized PRO measures were applied; PTSS was assessed with the Breslau scale, supplemented by open‐ended questions on “any traumatizing life events”. Results The weighted mean prevalence for patients reporting “any traumatizing event” was 43.0% (95% CI 37.0–49.2); prevalence for PTSS was 3.8% (95% CI 1.82–6.83). Traumatizing events were categorized into non‐heart‐related versus heart‐related (both n = 57; 50%); heart surgery ( n = 16) was most prominent. Oral intake of prescribed psychotropics (12.5%) was significantly higher in those with non‐heart‐related events (28.1% vs. 7.0%; p = 0.006). Female gender was associated with an OR of 1.703 (95%CI: 1.217–2.382; p = 0.002) for HADS depression and oral psychotropics (OR 6.623, 95%CI: 2.009–21.830; p = 0.002). HRQoL was lower for those on psychotropics ( p = 0.001). Patients who had experienced a trauma showed no differences in PTSS ( p = 0.771), anxiety ( p = 0.774), depression ( p = 0.565), and HRQoL ( p = 0.113). Conclusion A substantial proportion of VAD patients may have experienced traumatizing events; heart surgery was reported most prominently, may diminish the success of implantation, lead to PTSS, and warrants routine clinical screening of patients following VAD implantation.