A cross-sectional Study to Assess Symptoms of Depression Anxiety and Stress in Cardiovascular Patients in Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: In recent decades, depression was known as Melancholia. It had been considered as a serious spiritual disorder rather than a physical state. The ubiquity of depression in CVD patients has been observed for more than 50 years. In Pakistan, depression affects probably 34% of the population and both inheritance and ecological factors play a vital role in its progression. Objective: The primary objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress associated with some risk factors in cardiac hospitalized patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted for 3 weeks at Nishtar Hospital Multan. Depression, anxiety, and stress scale (Dass 42) containing 42 questions had been used. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics using the latest version of SPSS. Results: A total of 108 patients were selected randomly. The final results of the current study were observed as depression was found to be 14.8% moderate and 13.9% very severe. Anxiety was found to be 17.6% moderate and 8.3 % very severe while stress was 22.2% moderate and 2% very severe. 57.4% of females were observed having mental disorders while only 42.5% of males were observed. 55.6% of smokers and 44.4% non-smokers were found to be the victim of these mental disorders. Depression was found to be more in patients with age group 40-60 years. Patients having diabetes mellitus, hypertension and angina were more associated with these disorders. On the basis of literacy 43% educated and 56.5% uneducated patients were observed. Discussion: Multivariate analysis were used to access the depression, anxiety, and stress in cardiovascular patients. Among them depression is a major cause of cognitive in the world. Most severely depressed patients were diabetic and had cardiovascular disorder. Conclusion: It is concluded that poor lifestyle, socio-economic factors, gender, age, marital status and concomitant disorders play a significant role in causing these disorders so they can be overcome by providing compassionate care, proper education, psychiatric monitoring, and social support.