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A patient's
depression and anxiety may not be revealed when they consult
with their primary care doctor about other health problems,
according to researchers at Duke University.
"In
a primary setting, female sex, self-reported low perceived
health, pain, and disability were more predictive of anxiety
and depression than any of the most prevalent medical illnesses,"
the researchers found.
Depression
and anxiety are common in patients, but can be hard for doctors
to recognize because of the patient's other medical issues.
Researchers
developed a study to analyze the relations among symptoms,
diagnoses, and severity of illness as indicators of depression
and anxiety.
Patients
filled out the Duke Health Profile questionnaire, answering
questions about health-related quality of life. They were
also assessed for depression and anxiety. Researchers tracked
the patients' diagnoses and noted the severity of their illnesses.
Patients
who showed higher levels of depression and anxiety were more
likely to be diagnosed with headache, osteoarthritis, abdominal
pain, and diabetes, the researchers reported in the Journal
of the American Board of Family Practice.
However,
these diagnoses were no longer highly associated with depression
and anxiety after controlling for age, sex, ability to pay
for medical expenses, perceived health, pain, and disability.
The indicators of high depression and anxiety symptom levels
that persisted after controlling for all the other variables
were female gender, low perceived health, more pain, and greater
disability.
"Primary
care providers need to be knowledgeable about these health
measures so they can recognize patients at risk for anxiety
and depression regardless of their medical diagnoses,"
the researchers concluded.
Source:
Depression Week
of July 14, 2002
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