Red Blood Cell Distribution Width (RDW) During Admission and Anxiety Following Acute Myocardial Infarction

Abstract

Background: Myocardial infarction (MI), a life-threatening event, is often accompanied by an increased risk of anxiety. There is a growing association between anxiety and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Recent studies have shown that anxiety is associated with blood inflammatory markers, such as red blood cell distribution width (RDW). Objectives: We aimed to evaluate RDW levels during admission and anxiety levels after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 250 patients with AMI participated during 2023-2024. Demographic information and RDW levels were obtained within 24 hours after admission. The intensity of anxiety was evaluated using the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HRSA) two weeks after the occurrence of AMI. All data analyses were performed using SPSS version 24. Results: Of the total participants, 51.6% experienced anxiety two weeks after AMI. The mean age of patients in the anxiety and non-anxiety groups was 59.77 ± 10.10 and 62.68 ± 12.20 years, respectively. Among the laboratory parameters, only blood urea nitrogen was statistically different between the two groups (P < 0.027). The RDW level was 13.63 ± 1.20 in the anxiety group and 13.59 ± 1.51 in the non-anxiety group (P > 0.174). There was no statistically significant difference between RDW levels and post-AMI anxiety (P > 0.001). Conclusions: This study is the first to investigate the predictive value of RDW for post-AMI anxiety. Based on our findings, no significant relationship was observed between RDW and anxiety following AMI. Therefore, further studies in this field are needed to determine whether this cost-effective and readily available marker should be used for anxiety prediction after AMI.