The Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression in Adult Hospitalized Pa-tients in Internal and Surgical Wards of Shiraz Hospitals-1387(2008)

Background and Objectives: The objective of this study was to find out the prevalence of anxiety and depression in adult hospitalized patients in internal and surgical wards of Shiraz University Hospitals in year 2008. Materials and Methods: The study was designed as a cross sectional study. A validated measurement tool was used in this study was the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) (the questionnaire of case ness). Data collection was carried out in two major university hospitals and two private hospitals in Shiraz. Statistical analysis included the Student’s t test, and chi-square test and logistic regression analysis. Results: Thirty (4.3%) patients were normal within anxiety and depression, 216 (30.9%) were borderline cases of anxiety, 454 (64.9%) were probable cases of anxiety, 373 (53.4%) were borderline cases of depression and 296 (42.3%) were probable cases of depression. There was significant association between normal, borderline and probable groups of depression according to times of admissions and also between normal, borderline and probable groups of anxiety and depression according to duration of hospitalization and ward of admission. Most of borderline and probable cases of anxiety were admitted in internal ward. Most of normal and probable cases of depression were admitted in internal ward too. Discussion and conclusion: Prevalence of anxiety and depression in hospitalized medical patients is grate. The high levels of anxiety and depression detected in this sample suggests that screening for psychological co-morbidity is important in rehabilitation settings and should be included in the clinical interview carried out by the nurse at the duration of admission to the ward. Accurate diagnosis of co-morbid depressive and anxiety disorders in patients who admitted in medical care services is essential in understanding the cause and in optimizing the management of somatic symptom burden.