Anxiety and depression are unrecognised in emergency patients admitted to the observation care unit.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the sensitivity and specificity of emergency physicians in detecting anxiety and depression in patients requiring admission to the emergency department (ED) observation care unit for complementary investigations/treatment.


METHODS
339 consecutive patients admitted to the emergency observation care unit of 14 EDs were interviewed with standardised questionnaires. The characteristics of the patients, EDs and attending ED physicians were collected. Patients' anxiety and depression were identified using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), a self-administered questionnaire. ED physicians were blind to the HADS score and were asked to declare whether they perceived anxiety and depression in each patient. The judgement of ED physicians and the HADS score were compared using sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios.


RESULTS
The HADS questionnaire was correctly completed by 310 patients who comprised the study population. HADS detected symptoms of anxiety in 148 patients (47%) and symptoms of depression in 70 patients (23%). ED physicians determined the presence or absence of anxiety with a sensitivity of 48% (95% CI 40% to 56%) and a specificity of 69% (95% CI 61% to 75%). Positive and negative likelihood ratios were 1.54 (95% CI 1.16 to 2.06) and 0.75 (95% CI 1.28 to 3.28) for anxiety. They detected the presence or absence of depression with a sensitivity of 39% (95% CI 28% to 51%) and a specificity of 78% (95% CI 72% to 83%). Positive and negative likelihood ratios were 1.75 (95% CI 1.20 to 2.56) and 0.78 (95% CI 1.26 to 3.87) for depression.


CONCLUSIONS
Although patients presenting to the ED often experience anxiety and depression, these symptoms are poorly detected by ED physicians.
Perruche
Franck
F
Department of Emergency Medicine, Hôpital Cochin, AP-HP, 27 rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques F-75679, Paris, France.
Elie
Caroline
C
d'Ussel
Marguerite
M
Ray
Patrick
P
Thys
Frédéric
F
Bleichner
Gérard
G
Roy
Pierre-Marie
PM
Schmidt
Jeannot
J
Gayet
Albéric
A
Pateron
Dominique
D
Le Joubioux
Etienne
E
Porcher
Nicolas
N
Gamand
Pascale
P
Claessens
Yann-Erick
YE
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001530:Belgium; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult