Depression, anxiety and alcohol abuse in a gastroenterology intensive care unit: prevalence and detection

To assess depression, anxiety, and alcohol abuse in a Gastroenterology ICU, and the level of its detection by the staff.

All patients consecutively admitted to the ICU during a six-month period, 18 or above, and staying ≥ 24 hours, were assessed with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the CAGE. Doctors and nurses assessed the type and severity of patients' morbidity. Data were analyzed with Student's t-test, Pearson's and Spearman's correlations for ordinal variables, chi-square for nominal variables, and multiple logistic regression.

The 65 patients assessed had a mean age of 57, and were predominantly male (58.5%), married (72.3%), and retired (53.8%); 27.7% had a psychiatric history, 24.6% were on psychotropic drugs, and 32.3% had an alcohol intake above standards. Anxiety and depression HADS scores ≥ 8 were present in 29.2% and 35.4% of the patients, respectively; 20%, mainly men, scored positive on the CAGE. Women had significantly higher anxiety scores (=.012) than men but did not differ in depression. A psychiatric history was significantly associated with higher anxiety (p<.001) and depression (p=.007) scores, as well as being on psychotropic drugs regularly (p<.001; p=.03, respectively). Doctors diagnosed somatic illness in 48.8%, and somatic illness with psychiatric co-morbidity in 51%; for nurses the rates were, respectively, 41.5% and 58.6%. Doctors' and nurses' detection of psychiatric disorders were significantly associated with the HADS anxiety scores (p=.013; p=.001, respectively), and doctor's detection with depression (p=.046) scores. There were no significant associations between nurses' detection of psychiatric disorders and depression, and between both professional groups detection and alcohol abuse.

High prevalence of depression, anxiety, and alcohol abuse in Gastroenterology ICU was confirmed. However, the level of detection by the staff was low and mainly when anxiety symptoms were present.