P53: Anxiety and Depression among Hospitalised Patients in Mashhad

Nonpsychiatric hospitalized patients are frequently exposed to psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and depression, which significantly infuence the patient's subsequent admission days and the rate of recovery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of anxiety and depression among hospitalised patients in Mashhad hospitals and to compare the level of anxiety in patients admitted to different departments. This study assessed 264 patients (166 women and 98 men) admitted to internal medicine, general surgery, obestetrics-gynecology and neurology departments of four hospitals in Mashhad during 2012. The level of anxiety and depression was evaluated by hospital anxiety-depression scale (HADS). Demographic characteristics and information from medical records was extracted. Data analysis showed that anxiety is related to gender (P<0.001), economic status (P=0.004), employment status (P<0.001), history of chronic medical illness (P=0.004), history of psychiatric illness (P<0.001) and history of usage of psychiatric medicines (P<0.001). Depression was related to age (Psecondary and tertiary education), economic status (Pmoderate), employment status (P=0.011, students>others), history of chronic medical illness (P<0.001), history of psychiatric illness (P<0.001) and history of usage of psychiatric medicines (P<0.001). High prevalence of anxiety and depression among hospitalised patients, mainly in women, reminds us the necessity of performing psychiatric consults in physical patients in order to decrease the burden of disease, hospitalisation days and omission of coexisted psychiatric disorders.