Generalised Anxiety Disorder and Cardiovascular Disease: A Study at a University Teaching Hospital in North-Central Nigeria

Abstract

The association between anxiety and cardiovascular events in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) has shown anxiety disorders to increase the risk of major cardiac events and mortality, anxiety disorders have also been linked to the onset, progression and prognosis of CVD. Therefore, this study was aimed to determine the prevalence and correlates of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) in patients attending the cardiology clinic of Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH). It was part of a larger study conducted among 106 consenting participants within the period of June 2017 to August, 2017. The result shows that 54(50.9%) of the respondents were female while 52 (49.1%) were male. Twenty-eight (26.4%) were married, 15(14.2%) were single while 63(59.4%) were previously married. Eight-two (77.4%) of the subjects were diagnosed with hypertension, Rheumatic heart disease was diagnosed in 8(7.5%) subjects, heart failure 3 (2.8%) and cardiomyopathy 9(8.5%). Thirty-two subjects were diagnosed with GAD representing a prevalence rate of 30.2%. Generalised anxiety disorder was significantly associated with female gender (p=0.001), marital status (p=0.008), unsatisfactory relationship with sexual partner (0.001), history of substance use (p=0.001), and low level of occupational status (p=0.026). However, there was no statistically significant association between GAD and body mass index -BMI (p=0.139), as well as the nature of a cardiovascular diagnosis (p=0.703). The authors therefore recommended a detail psychiatric/psychological evaluation of patients with CVD to enhance early detection and treatment for a better outcome and quality of life.