Prevalence of Depressive and Anxiety Disorders in the Peking Union Medical College Hospital and Current Clinical Practice

  Objective  To explore the prevalence of depressive and/or anxiety disorders in outpatients in neurology, gastroenterology, cardiology, and gynecology department from a general hospital.

  Methods  A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the Peking Union Medical College Hospital in 2007.Totally 621 outpatients were recruited within one month.All of the subjects completed the self rated Hospital Anxiety and Depression(HAD)scale for screening, and patients with HAD scores ≥ 8 were further interviewed by psychiatrists.Psychiatric diagnoses were made using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview(MINI).

  Results  A total of 353 outpatients(56.8%)had ≥ 8 during screening, of them 281 were further interviewed by psychiatrists and 111 subjects were diagnosed as with depressive and/or anxiety disorders.Theses patients had more trouble in living, working, and social activities.The adjusted prevalence of depressive and/or anxiety disorders in outpatients in neurology, gastroenterology, cardiology, and gynecology were 33.4%, 18.8%, 12.4%, and 25.5% respectively.Only 18.9% of those patients were recognized during their outpatient visits.Among these interviewes, the preferred treatment mode was pharmacotherapy, followed by psychotherapy and referral to psychiatry.

  Conclusions  The prevalence of depressive and/or anxiety disorders is high among outpatients in a general hospital.However, their treatment needs usually are not met due to low percentages of diagnosis and treatment.