Redefining psychocardiology: Integrating depression management into heart failure care for enhanced long-term recovery and prognosis

Table 1 Representative studies on depression and heart failure: Prevalence, prognosis, and intervention outcomes

Ref.	Design/population	Main focus	Key findings	Main implication
Rutledge et al[1], 2006	Meta-analysis of HF studies	Prevalence and outcomes	Depression is highly prevalent in HF and associated with poorer clinical outcomes	Depression is a highly relevant comorbidity in HF
Jiang et al[15], 2001	Prospective cohort, CHF patients	Mortality and rehospitalization	Depression is associated with increased mortality and rehospitalization risk	Prognostic relevance of depression
Sherwood et al[42], 2007	Prospective cohort, HF patients	Death or hospitalization	Depression predicts death or hospitalization	Depression is a marker of adverse HF prognosis
Sokoreli et al[3], 2016	Systematic review and meta-analysis	Depression/anxiety and mortality	Depression and anxiety predict higher mortality in HF	Supports routine psychosocial risk assessment
Mao et al[19], 2025	Retrospective cohort, HF patients	Ventricular function, adherence, readmission	Greater depression severity is associated with poorer ventricular function, reduced medication adherence, and higher readmission	Supports integration of depression management into HF care
O'Connor et al[30], 2010	Randomized clinical trial	Sertraline in HF with depression	Sertraline does not significantly improve depressive symptoms compared with placebo, and no clear cardiovascular benefit was demonstrated	Antidepressant therapy does not translate into clear HF-specific clinical benefit
Angermann et al[26], 2016	Randomized clinical trial	Escitalopram in HF with depression	No significant reduction in all-cause mortality or hospitalization, and no significant improvement in depressive symptoms	Challenges the assumption that treating depression improves hard HF endpoints
Rollman et al[37], 2021	Randomized clinical trial	Blended collaborative care	Improved mood and mental health-related quality of life, but not rehospitalization or physical function	Collaborative care benefits patient-centered outcomes more than hard endpoints
Freedland et al[28], 2015	Randomized clinical trial	Cognitive behavioral therapy in HF	Benefits for depression and self-care persist at 1 year	Nonpharmacological intervention may improve self-management
Freedland et al[29], 2023	Randomized clinical trial	Depression treatment and self-care	Benefits on depression/self-care persist, but cardiovascular outcome effects remain limited	Supports continued interest in patient-centered outcomes after depression treatment

HF: Heart failure; CHF: Congestive heart failure.