Anxiety level of Iranian patients with psychiatric disorders and related factors: A cross-sectional study

Patients at psychiatric facilities may experience anxiety for a variety of reasons. Long-term anxiety that is not treated can lead to chronic problems like headaches, insomnia, depression, muscle tension, suicidal thoughts, and chronic pain. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between anxiety levels and anxiety-inducing factors in patients hospitalized in psychiatric wards. In a cross-sectional study, 384 patients with psychiatric disorders admitted to psychiatric departments of hospitals affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran were included in 2020. Sampling in this study was done by a simple random sampling method, and on each sampling day, the patient’s bed number was written on a separate piece of paper and randomly drawn from the box. SPSS software (version 18.0, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was used for data analysis. 384 participants were included in this research. The largest number of patients, 218 (56.8%) were below diploma. 234 people (60.9%) were in the age group below 40 years. Also, 210 patients (54.7%) were female. Most of the participants (40.6%) had a high anxiety level. There was a significant positive relationship between the staff’s conversation about the patient in the ward and the anxiety score of hospitalized patients (P 0.001). So, the more the talk is about the patient, the more the patient’s anxiety will increase. Also, there is a significant positive relationship between the lack of individual freedoms after hospitalization and the anxiety score of patients based on Kessler’s anxiety questionnaire (P=0.02). The findings of this study indicate that some of the elements under investigation contribute to patients’ anxiety while others have no bearing on it. To fully understand the causes of anxiety in patients being treated in psychiatric hospitals, more research is required.