title: Depression and Anxiety in a Cardiovascular Outpatient Clinic: A descriptive study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cardiac diseases are psycho-somatic disorders, and psychological aspects play an essential role in their initiation and exacerbation. The aim of this study was to gain appropriate knowledge in the epidemiology of co-morbid depression and anxiety disorder in cardiovascular outpatients.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study is descriptive with a sample of patients attending a cardio-vascular clinic. 238 individuals were included in this study using a consecutive sampling method. The study instrument was Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) questionnaire, which is a clinical scale for assessing anxiety and depression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 238 participants in this study, 93(38.7%) were male and 146 (61.3%) female. 28.5% of patients suffered from anxiety disorders, and 41.9% had depression. Regarding comorbid diseases such as diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia and hypertension, the severity of depression was just related to hypertension. There was a meaningful relationship between gender and symptoms of anxiety so that symptoms were more severe in women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Considering the high prevalence of depression and anxiety in patients suffering from cardio-vascular diseases, it is necessary to screen psychological disorders in patients with cardio-vascular diseases and improve their cardio-vascular health and quality of life as mush as possible.
authors.affiliation: Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Heart research center.
authors.forename: Baktash
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bayani
authors.forename: Shakila
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yousefi
authors.forename: Mahtab
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bayani
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shirmohammadi
authors.forename: Abdollatif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alimoradi
authors.forename: Homa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Falsoleiman
authors.forename: Narges
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yazdi
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arbabi