The Role of Environment in Psychiatric Disorders Observed in Hospitalised Cardiac Patients

Rodica Avram, Florina Pârv, Simona Tamasan, Mihai Balint, Victor D. Moga, Mihaela Pasztori, and Iulian Avram

First Clinic of Cardiology, Timişoara Emergency District Hospital, Victor Babeş University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timişoara, Romania

Corresponding author: Prof. Rodica Avram
    Toplita Street 2A
    RO-300012 Timişoara, Romania
    Telephone: 0040-256244466
    Fax number: 0040-256489628
    E-mail: avram_j@yahoo.com , rodica_avram@yahoo.com

CEJOEM 2006, Vol.12. No.1.: 43–47

Key words:
Depression, anxiety, coronary disease, heart failure

Abstract:
The aim of the study was to determine the incidence of psychiatric pathology in hospitalized cardiac patients as related to certain environmental conditions. The patients underwent psychiatric examination using the ICD-10 criteria and filled in questionnaires on the quality of life, age, and domicile. Of the total of 2235 cardiac patients, 11.14% were diagnosed with psychiatric pathology: 15 (6.02%) with organic affective disorder, 208 (83.53%) with depression of various degrees of severity and mixed anxiety-depressive disorder, 16 (6.42%) with anxiety, and 10 (4.01%) were alcohol abusers. Ninety-three percent of organic affective disorders, 81.25% of anxiety, 63.94% of depressions, and 70% of disorder caused by alcohol addiction were town-dwellers; 41% of mixed anxious-depressive disorders were from rural areas. Thirty-one percent of patients over 70 were depressive (82% of them urban) and 23.38% were depressive-anxious (55% of them were urban). Sixty-eight percent of the mixed disorder patients were women (49% of them urban). Depression was present in 30 coronary patients, 16 with heart failure, 32 with hypertension, 4 with cerebral vascular pathology. It seems that in cardiac patients comorbidity with psychiatric disorders plays an important role and it has to be taken into account when discussing the good outcome of the patients.

Received: 5 December 2005
Accepted: 31 August 2006

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