The impact of psychological distress on long-term recovery perceptions in survivors of cardiac arrest

Abstract Purpose To determine the association of depressive and PTSD symptoms with cardiac arrest survivors' long-term recovery perceptions, after accounting for cognitive status, functional independence, and medical comorbidities. Methods Perceived recovery of 78 cardiac arrest survivors at 6-months post-hospital discharge was assessed through the question, “Do you feel that you have made a complete recovery from your arrest? ” Psychological symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) and the PTSD Checklist-Specific (PCL S). Logistic regression was utilized to assess the association between psychological symptoms with positive and negative recovery perceptions, adjusting for demographics, cognitive impairment, functional dependence, and medical comorbidities. Results At 6 months, 53% of patients ( n  = 41) had negative recovery perceptions. 32.1% ( n  = 25) of patients screened for depression and 28.2% ( n  = 22) for PTSD. Patients with higher CES-D scores were significantly more likely to have negative recovery perceptions in both unadjusted and adjusted analyses (OR: 1.10, 95% CI [1.03, 1.16], p p Conclusions In contrast with cognitive and functional measures, depressive symptoms were strongly associated with cardiac arrest survivors' negative recovery perceptions at 6-months post-discharge.