[Assessment of psychological status of patients with effort angina]

Assessment of psychological status including levels of anxiety and depression as well as susceptibility to chronic stress of men and women with ischemic heart disease (IHD) and effort angina.

We included in this study 530 patients with IHD and functional class I+/-III effort angina (300 men, mean age 54+/-0,4 years and 230 women, mean age 55,7+/-0,5 years). We used the Reeder questionnaire for assessment of susceptibility to chronic stress, and hospital HADS score for analysis of anxiety and depression.

Just 22% of patients had low level of stress while in 58.5% and 19.5% level of stress was medium and high, respectively. High stress was more often noted among men (22,3%) compared with women (15,7%). However this difference was not statistically significant. Overall 82 and 72% of men and 79 and 71% of women had various degrees of depression and anxiety, respectively. Depression and anxiety were clinically manifested in 38 and 42% of patients. There was no statistically significant difference in depression and anxiety rates between men and women.

According to questionnaire data psychological status of patients with IHD was characterized by susceptibility to high and medium chronic stress as well as by subclinical and clinical anxiety and depression. There were no significant differences in rates of psychosomatic disturbances between men and women with IHD. Each forth patient required professional correction of derangements of psychological status.