Objective: To investigate the association between depressive symptoms and physical functioning in pulmonary hypertension (PH) patients.
Methods: Fifty-two patients diagnosed with precapillary or postcapillary PH completed self-report questionnaires of depressive symptoms and physical functioning. Cardiac catheterization reports of patients were reviewed for hemodynamic variables.
Results: Physical functioning was significantly associated with depressive symptoms on bivariate analysis. On multivariate analysis, after controlling for demographic and hemodynamic variables, depressive symptoms accounted for 9% of variance in physical functioning.
Conclusion: The association of depressive symptoms with decreased physical functioning in PH patients indicates the need for longitudinal research regarding the possible effect of depression on disease outcomes in this population.