Document Type : Brief Report(s)
Authors
- Ho Siew Eng 1
- Loo Chee Yean 2
- Srijit Das 3
- Santhna Letchmi 1
- Khor Sin Yee 1
- Rohayu A. Bakar 1
- Jeliha Hung 1
- Choy Yin Choy 4
1 Department of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2 Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
3 Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
4 Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive care, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Abstract
Anxiety and depression could reduce the quality of life, and exacerbate physical symptoms and even mortality amongst patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of anxiety and depression in patients with acute CHD. In a period from March to December 2008, the views of 108 CHD patients, hospitalized in a tertiary hospital, were solicited using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and sociodemographic questionnaires. Patients with CHD had a low level anxiety and depression scores. There was significant differences in the total HADS score of participants stratified for marital status (P=0.027) or co-morbidity of diseases (P=0.012). Also, there were significant dif-ferences in the scores of depression subscale stratified for marital status (P=0.021) or co-morbidity of disease (P=0.007). However, there was no significant difference between the total HADS score or depression subscale score of the participants stratified based on age, gender, race, education, or income. Moreover, unmarried CHD respondents possessed higher de-pression level compared to the married respondents, and CHD respondents with co-morbid dis-eases showed a high level of depression. The findings might be taken as evidence to suggest that CHD patients should be evaluated early for the detection of anxiety and depression for appropriate referral and support.
Keywords
)