Depression and anxiety in hospitalized patients of the Internal Medicine service of the Hospital Escuela Universitario of Honduras

Abstract

Background and purpose: Hospitalization is not always well assimilated by individuals, producing anxiety and depression. However, these psychological reactions in hospitalized patients may be underestimated and not considered in treatment or recuperation processes. Considering this, the purpose of this study was to analyze the dynamic between depression and anxiety in patients of the Internal Medicine department of the Hospital Escuela Universitario (HEU), in Honduras. Additionally, anxiety and depression scores were compared regarding the respondent’s sex, toxic habits, and previous hospitalizations. Materials and methods: A quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional research method was used, taking a simple random sample of 92 patients from the Internal Medicine rooms of the HEU. Anxiety was measured through the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Questionnaire (GAD-7) and depression was measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire- 9 (PHQ-9), demographic data was also collected by the researchers. Results: 67.4% of the patients presented some degree of depressive symptoms, particularly at a moderate level (29.3%). On the other hand, 51.1% of the patients presented anxiety -at some level- with moderate symptoms being the most predominant (29.3%). Results suggest a moderate significant statistic relationship between depression and anxiety scores. No statistically significant difference was found in depression and anxiety scores regarding the respondent’s sex, presence of toxic habits or a history of previous hospitalizations. Conclusions: Public health services should promote holistic approaches which not only rely on a physiological perspective, but also on the psychological wellbeing of non-psychiatric hospitalized patients.