| dc.description.abstract | Depression is prevalent in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Past studies have found that one in five patients experience depression post-myocardial infarction (MI) (Osler et al., 2016; Thombs et al., 2006). Patients with depression post-MI are at increased risk for adverse outcomes, mortality, and readmission to the hospital (Hess et al., 2016; Szpakowski, Bennell, Qui, Kirdyak, & Wijeysundera, 2016). This study utilized retrospective data obtained from electronic medical records (EMRs) to examine the relationship between readmission rates and depression post-MI. The sample consisted of 593 patients with depression post-MI, and 98 patients, or 16.5%, were readmitted within 12 months post-MI. Demographic data including age, gender, and race were also analyzed in the study. The ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes requested consisted of MI and depression codes to ensure inclusion of all types of MI and depression diagnoses. The data sample consisted of men and women ages 40-70 years old who had a diagnosis of depression, had experienced an MI, and had visited their primary care provider within 12 months post-MI. The data were gathered from a date range of January 1st, 2012 to December 31st, 2016 to include a five-year representation of data. Using a Chi-Square Test of Independence and a Fischer’s Exact Test, the findings of the data analysis concluded that there was no significant relationship (Region 1 P-value=0.6921; Region 2 P-value=0.4613) between depression screening and readmission in post-myocardial infarction patients for both regions examined within the organization. However, treatment data was not obtainable for the data sets, therefore, an analysis of the relationship between depression treatment and readmissions post-MI was not possible. Despite these findings, current guidelines and past evidence continue to recommend depression screening in post-MI patients to ensure patients receive appropriate treatment and care. Overall, recommendations of this study are for future studies to examine depression screening, include analysis of treatment in post-MI patients, and for practitioners to screen post-MI patients for depression per the guidelines. | en_US |
