Personalized Treatments for Depressive Symptoms in Patients With Advanced Heart Failure

We are doing this study to help patients, caregivers, and providers make decisions about how best to manage depressive symptoms in advanced heart failure. There are two evidence-based treatment approaches to treating depression in patients with advanced heart failure, behavioral action psychotherapy and treatment with anti-depressant medications. In this study we want to compare the effectiveness of these two treatment options to learn which treatment works better.

Aim 1: To compare the effectiveness of BA vs. MEDS, for depressed AHF patients. Hypothesis 1: Compared to depressed AHF patients who receive MEDS, patients receiving BA will have significantly greater improvements in the primary outcome of depressive symptom severity as measured with the PHQ-9 at 6-month follow-up. Significantly greater improvements will also be detected in the secondary outcomes of general physical and mental HRQoL (SF-12v2), heart failure-specific HRQoL (KCCQ), and caregiver burden (CBQ-HF) at 3, 6, and 12 months. Aim 2: To compare the impact of BA vs. MEDS on disadvantageous outcomes of Morbidity (as evidenced by ED visits, hospital readmissions, total days in the hospital), and Mortality among depressed AHF patients. Hypothesis 2: Compared to depressed AHF patients who receive MEDS, those receiving BA will have significantly less Morbidity (as evidenced by less frequent ED visits, lower readmission rates, fewer total days in the hospital), and reduced Mortality at the data collection points of 3, 6, and 12 months.