Depressive Symptoms and Risk Factors in Chinese Patients with Premature Ventricular Contractions without Structural Heart Disease

Hypothesis Our objective was to study depressive symptoms and potential risk factors in Chinese persons with premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) without structural heart disease. Methods The Zung self‐rating depression scale (ZSDS) was used to assess depressive symptoms. Correlations between depressive symptoms and sociodemographic and medical factors were analyzed by logistic regression. Background Prevalence of depressive symptoms in coronary heart disease (CHD) is higher that in the general population and those for the majority of other chronic symptoms in patients with premature ventricular contractions (PUCS). Results Of 1,144 patients with PVCs (488 males, 656 females), age 51 ± 23 years, disease duration 1 mo − 23 y, a total of 309 (27%) patients were categorized as having depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms increased with age, income, education level, nationality, PVC count/24h, society support, and settlement type (p < 0.05). Univariate logistic regression showed that being female, level of education, age, settlement type, and PVC count/24h significantly correlated with depressive symptoms (p < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression indicated that 5 variables—female sex, education level, settlement type, age, and PVC count/24h significantly and independently related with depressive symptoms (p < 0.05). Conclusions In the Chinese population, depressive symptoms in subjects with PVCs were frequent. The village settlement type, female sex, age, PVC count/24h, and education level were independent risk factors for depressive symptoms. Further research on the relationship between PVCs and depressive symptoms in China is necessary. Copyright © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.