Evaluation of the relationship between the severity of depression, anxiety and stress with nuclear scan in Urmia

Some negative psychological factors such as depression, anxiety, and stress have been identified as serious risk factors for the final adverse outcome of ischemic heart disease. Given the high prevalence of psychiatric disorders, in this study, we aimed to determine the relationship between the severity of depression, anxiety, and stress, with nuclear scan results in patients referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Urmia.

In this cross-sectional-analytical study, 163 patients with the possibility of ischemic heart disease from various clinics and medical centers referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Urmia for nuclear heart scanning from April to July 1400, were assessed by the DASS-21 questionnaire in terms of depression, anxiety, and stress scores. Finally, the data obtained from the DASS-21 questionnaire, nuclear scan, and demographic characteristics were analyzed with SPSS20 software.

According to the results, the mean age of the patients was 54.78±11.54 years, 73% of whom were women. The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress was high (72.4, 80.3, and 59.5%, respectively). Although the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress in patients with a negative report of ischemia was higher and evaluated as 73.2, 78.7, and 58.3% respectively, there was not a significant difference with the subjects whose heart scan results were positive (P>0.05). Moreover, a weak positive correlation was observed between the severity of depression, anxiety, and stress with the severity of cardiac ischemia in study patients.

The results of this study revealed that the depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms in patients before a cardiac nuclear scan are often moderate to mild. Likewise, among the different demographic characteristics of patients, only gender played an important role in these disorders. Regardless of the negative nuclear scan results in most patients (77.9%), the prevalence of these psychological symptoms in the studied patients was high. Therefore, considering the possibility of psychological disorders with clinical manifestations mimicking cardiovascular can prevent additional costs for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in these patients.