Objective:

To characterize health-related quality of life and the presence of depressive symptoms in patients following ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction.

Approach:

• Study Design: Cross-sectional observational study using data from the Prospective Myocardial Infarction Registry (REPRIM) involving patients with STEMI treated in a public tertiary care setting in Chile.
• Assessment Tools: Health-related quality of life was assessed using the SF-36 questionnaire, and depressive symptoms were evaluated with the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D).
• Statistical Analysis: Associations between quality of life and depressive symptoms were explored using multivariable linear regression models adjusted for age, sex, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and left ventricular ejection fraction.

Key Findings:

• 94.1% of patients exhibited at least mild depressive symptoms, with a median HAM-D score of 12 (interquartile range 10–15).
• Higher depressive symptom severity was significantly associated with lower physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) component scores of the SF-36 in unadjusted analyses (ρ = −0.46 and ρ = −0.58, respectively; p < 0.001) and remained independently associated after multivariable adjustment [β = −1.26 [95% CI −2.06 to −0.46] for PCS; β = −1.50 [95% CI −2.40 to −0.61] for MCS; both p < 0.01].
• Patients with moderate or higher depressive symptoms had significantly worse quality-of-life scores compared to those with mild symptoms.

Interpretation:

Depressive symptoms were highly prevalent at 30 days post-myocardial infarction and were associated with poorer health-related quality of life.

Limitations:

• Small sample size and single-centre study.
• Descriptive nature of mortality analyses due to limited number of events.

Conclusion:

The study highlights the burden of depressive symptoms early after myocardial infarction and supports the integration of mental health assessments into post-infarction follow-up.