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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