Introduction Implantable cardiac pacemakers or cardioverter defibrillators are alternatives for the treatment of arrhythmias, however, their use has caused changes in the emotional state of patients. The objective of this study was to compare the measures of anxiety and depression symptoms in individuals according to their sex, type of cardiac device, and diagnosis of Chagas disease. Methods This is an observational and cross-sectional study conducted with adults with implantable cardiac pacemakers or cardioverter defibrillators. Data was collected using a sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. We used the Student’s t-test for independent samples and the Chi-squared test, with a significance level of 0.05. Results Two hundred forty-four patients participated in the study, 168 with cardiac pacemakers and 76 with implantable cardioverter defibrillators; 104 had Chagas cardiomyopathy (85 with cardiac pacemakers and 19 with implantable cardioverter defibrillators). No statistically significant differences were found in measures of anxiety and depression symptoms according to device type (P=0.594 and P=0.071, respectively) and the presence of Chagas etiology (P=0.649 and P=0.354, respectively). Women had higher mean scores for anxiety (P=0.002) and depression symptoms (P<0.001). Conclusion In the comparison between the groups, according to the type of implanted device and the diagnosis of Chagas disease, no significant differences were found in the measures of anxiety and depression symptoms. Women showed higher means when compared to men, indicating the need to test and implement interventions to minimize these symptoms in this population.

Objective: to investigate the relationship between gender and age with symptoms of anxiety, depression and cardiac anxiety in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. Methods: cross-sectional study, with 76 patients with device attended in a university hospital. For data collection, a sociodemographic/clinical form and two validated scales were used in Brazil. In the analysis, the chi-square tests, exact Fischer and Mann-Whitney, with a significance level of 5% were adopted. Results: it was observed that the groups were homogeneous in terms of gender and age. Women presented higher medians in both anxiety and depression symptoms, with statistical significance. They also presented higher medians in symptoms of cardiac anxiety, but without statistical significance. Regarding age, no significant differences were found for the symptoms investigated. Conclusion: women presented more symptoms of anxiety and depression; however there was no relationship between the age of the patients and their symptoms.