Objective: Evaluation of psychical and cognitive im-pairment, which could be an important, additive ele-ment of acute heart failure (AHF) decompensations.

Methods: We examined the prevalence of negative psychical factors in 29 patients (20 males, 9 women, mean age 68.62 years) hospitalized AHF, already sta-bilized hemodynamically. To evaluate depression and anxiety, we used the HADS and PHQ-2 questionnaires, while social support was studied using the ESSI ques-tionnaire. The cognitive function was measured using the clock test.

Results: High scores for depression occurred in 20.68% of patients, and the prevalence of anxiety was 68.96% (41.37% being severe). In 13.79% of patients, severe depression and anxiety were present concomitantly. Despite of high prevalence, only 6.89% of patients were diagnosed prior to admission with depressive syndro-me, and 10.34% with anxiety disorder. 37.93% of pa-tients received anxiolytic treatment during admission. In 62.06% of cases psychical stress factors (financial problems, unfavorable social situation, disease related disability, sickness or death in family, intrafamilial con-flicts, etc.) were identifiable during the 6 months prior to admission.

Conclusions: The prevalence of negative psychical fac-tors is high in patients with AHF. Timely recognition and treatment can play an important role in preventing and efficiently treating decompensation.