Assessment of the depression and anxiety in patients with acute coronary artery disease

Depression and anxiety are the factors that increase death risk in the patients with heart disease. This study was done with the purpose of studying depression and anxiety rates in the patients with acute coronary artery disease. This cross-sectional study which is descriptive was conducted on 366patients in the CCU of heart and cardiology wards of Kerman University affiliated hospitals 48hours and 6days after admission in 2010. A questionnaire was used for gathering information on hospital anxiety and depression. The data was analyzed using T- test and variance analysis and SPSS17 software. The mean score of anxiety was 10.12 ±3.49 and the mean score of depression was 10.10 ±2.69 after 48 hours of admission. After 6 days of admission, the mean score of anxiety was 10.17± 2.97 and the mean score of depression was 9.95±2.62. There was no meaningful discrepancy between the depression and anxiety scores in 48 hours and 6 days after the admission. Due to high amounts of depression and anxiety in patients with coronary artery disease and their remarkable impact on disease consequence, effective measures are needed in quick recognition and decreasing their impacts.