Evaluation of anxiety and depression levels in patients with myocardial infarction

OBJECTIVES
Patients with myocardial infarction (MI) may experience anxiety and depression. This study was designed to determine anxiety and depression levels in patients with MI.

STUDY DESIGN
The study included 506 patients (199 women, 307 men; mean age 55.7±6.9 years) who were admitted to the cardiology department for MI. Data were collected using a questionnaire to identify patient characteristics and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The HADS has been validated as a sensitive screening tool for anxiety and depression in MI patients in the Turkish population.

RESULTS
Clinically severe anxiety was found in all the patients (100%). Depression scores showed a clinically normal level in 45 patients (8.9%), borderline level in 289 patients (57.1%), and severe level in 172 patients (34%). The mean HADS score was 11.4±2.9, being 12.2±4.1 and 10.6±4.1 for anxiety and depression, respectively. Among patient characteristics, age was significantly associated with both anxiety and depression subscales (p<0.001), and education level (p<0.05), total family income (p<0.01), health insurance (p<0.05), and the number of myocardial infarctions (p<0.05) were significantly associated with the depression subscale. In regression analysis, age (β=-0.128), education level (β=0.082), and working status (β=-0.79) independently affected both anxiety and depression, and total family income (β=-0.128) and health insurance (β=-0.086) significantly affected depression.

CONCLUSION
Our data suggest that planning nursing interventions to decrease anxiety and depression levels and implementation of cardiac rehabilitation programs are of particular importance in patients with MI.