Prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms in patients with hypertension and diabetes mellitus seen in New Territories East primary care clinics

Abstract

Objective: To identify and compare the prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms in patients with hypertension and diabetes mellitus with those without hypertension and diabetes. To assess the association of depressive & anxiety symptoms with the control of hypertension and diabetes in hypertensive and diabetic patients. Design: cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Subjects: Patients over the age of 18 years old from the electronic patients' records, with a documented history of hypertension or diabetes mellitus, were recruited from three GOPCs. Those ≥ 18 years without any chronic illnesses were recruited as the control group. Main outcome measures: 1) Prevalence of anxiety or depressive symptoms in patients with or without hypertension or diabetes. 2) Comparison of anxiety and depression scores between non-hypertensive/non- diabetic and hypertensive/diabetic groups. 3) Correlation between A score, D score, blood pressure readings and HbA1c. Results: 1059 questionnaires were collected and the response rate was 91.5%. 20.6% of hypertensive only patients had an A-score (anxiety) >8 and 33.8% had D-score (depression) >8. 20.6% of diabetic patients had A-score > 8 and 30.8% have D-score >8. 29.8% of non chronic illness patients had an A-score >8 and 33.5% had D-score >8. There was no significant difference between A-scores and D-scores among those with or without chronic illnesses. There was also no correlation between A score, D score, SBP, DBP, and HbA1c. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the high prevalence rates of depressive and anxiety symptoms in both groups of patients with or without chronic illness or illnesses and attention should be put on mental health promotion for both groups.