Application of the hospital anxiety and depression scale among the inpatients of otolaryngology / 中国耳鼻咽喉头颈外科

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the status of the anxiety and depression in the inpatients of the otolaryngology with hospital anxiety and depression scale(HADs). METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2014 to September 2016 at the Department of Otolaryngology, Affiliated Hospital of Yan'an University. We recruited 624 Chinese otolaryngology's inpatients to determine the prevalence of anxiety and depression using the HADs. HADs consists of 14 items, depression(seven items) and anxiety(seven times), each with four choices numbered alphabetically. Each of the subscales' scores ranges from 0 to 21, corresponding to total scores of 0 to 42, with higher scores indicating greater distress. Psychological distress was assessed for adult inpatients among the department of otolaryngology by a standardized HADs. In addition, the nasal bone fracture patients were treated as control and compared it to other diseases. Demographic data and clinical information collected from the patients and their hospital records were reviewed. RESULTS 1. Patients with sensorineural hearing loss, secretory otitis media, sudden sensorineural hearing loss, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, peripheral facial paralysis, chronic sinusitis, polyp of vocal cord, laryngeal paralysis, fungal sinusitis and OSAHS revealed depressive and anxiety symptoms in comparison with the control. 2. Psychological distress of patients with sensorineural hearing loss and laryngeal paralysis were significantly related to education, which the anxiety or depression scores tended to increase with the education(P<0.05). CONCLUSION Depression and anxiety disorders were common in the local population of otolaryngology's inpatients. Recognizing the predictors for psychiatric morbidity could assist clinicians to identify those patients with a predisposition to developing psychiatric complications, and refer them for appropriate treatment. We recommend screening for psychological distress in patients with some otolaryngological diseases using a simple HAD tool to identify those patients who might benefit from a more psychologically based approach to therapy.