Depression in Various Ethnic Groups of Pakistan after Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Background: Depression is very common among individuals recovering from a chronic illness with long-term or recurrent hospitalization. Post-myocardial infarction patients are at risk of developing depression and is considered to be a risk for elevated mortality. Aims and Objective: To determine the frequency of depression among various ethnic groups of patients post primary percutaneous coronary intervention for acute myocardial infarction. Material and Methods: �A cross-sectional study was conducted at the out-patients department of NICVD, Pakistan for a duration of six months from February 2021 to July 2021. Total 256 patients aged between 18 to 85 years, were diagnosed with STEMI, and had undergone PCI were included in the study. Patients with prior diagnosis of CAD or had prior history of psychological problems were excluded from the study. Patients were interviewed for depression by using Beck's depression inventory (BDI). Patients scoring > 10 were labeled as having depression. Results: Out of 256 patients, 122 (48.8%) patients were screened positive for depressive symptoms.� Out of these, about 21.1% had mild depression, 16% had borderline clinical depression, 10.5% had moderate depression, while about 0.8% had severe depression. Age of 71 years and above, female gender, diabetes, hypertension, and sedentary lifestyle were all significantly correlated with increased risk of depression in post-MI patients with BDI scores of 17.64 � 7.9 (<0.0001), 13.54 � 7.53 (0.015), 14.47 � 7.61 (p<0.0001), 13.52 � 6.83 (p<0.0001), and 16.69 � 7.57 (p<0.0001), respectively. Conclusion: After percutaneous coronary intervention for MI, depression was found in almost half of the patients. However, as per our study, the risk for depression is independent of ethnic background.