BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) constitutes a major public health problem in the USA with self-management playing a key role in treatment. Depressed patients often have poor insights which correlates with increased rates of adverse events such as emergency room visits, admissions and readmissions, length of hospital stay and mortality.

AIM: To determine the prevalence, trends, and predictors of depression among community-based patients with HF in the USA, and its association with self-perceived health status.

METHODS: Using the 2007 through 2016 NHANES data, we identified patients with HF aged 20-80 years with completed PHQ-9 depression screening questionnaire. PHQ-9 scores ≥10 were considered diagnostic for depression. The Chi square test was used for comparison of prevalence of depression between subgroups with p < 0.05 considered statistically significant.

RESULTS: The prevalence of depression among community-based patients with HF was 17.3% and remained stable from 2007 through 2016. Female participants, persons

CONCLUSION: Over 1 in 6 community-based patients with HF suffers from depression with women, individuals