Assessment of anxiety and depression in hospitalized cardiac patients of Faisalabad Institute of Cardiology, Pakistan

Purpose: To assess the level of anxiety and depression in hospitalized cardiac patients in Faisalabad Institute of Cardiology, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Methods: The study was conducted on hospitalized cardiac patients at Faisalabad Institute of Cardiology (FIC), Faisalabad. Aga Khan University Anxiety and Depression Scale (AKUADS) was applied to estimate the occurrence of depression and anxiety in selected participants. This study involved 400 diagnosed hospitalized cardiac patients and another 400 participants without cardiac disease as control group. Results: The anxiety and depression level in hospitalized cardiac patient’s was 79.5% (318), compared with 68.25 % (273) of the control group. Female patients were also more prone to depression than male patients. Psychological suffering was 1.80 times more in the hospitalized cardiac patients (OR = 1.804, 95 %CI = 1.308 - 2.488, p = 0.0001). The results showed that gender was the leading factor in the occurrence of co-morbidities such as depression and anxiety. Conclusion: Depression symptoms are more common among hospitalized patients than in those without cardiac disease. Close monitoring is required and patients with psychiatric illness should be referred for appropriate treatment to overcome this risk. Keywords: Hypertension, Anxiety, Depression, Gender, Cardiac patients