Anxiety, Depression, Coronary Artery Disease and Diabetes Mellitus; an Association Study in Ghaem Hospital, Iran

Background: There is an increasing trend in the prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) in Iran. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the relationship of anxiety, depression, diabetes and coronary artery disease among patients undergoing angiography in Ghaem Hospital, Mashhad, Iran. Patients and Methods: This case-control study was conducted between September 2011 and August 2012 among 200 patients undergoing coronary angiography for symptoms of coronary disease at Ghaem Hospital, Mashhad, Iran. The control group consisted of 697 healthy adults recruited from the individuals who attended the clinic for routine medical checkups or pre-employment examinations. The Beck anxiety and depression inventory scores and fasting blood glucose results were assessed in all the subjects. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16. P < 0.05 was regarded as statistically significant. Results: The mean age of patients was 57.52 ± 9.33 years old and for the control group it was 55.35 ± 8.45 years; there was no significant difference between the subjects (P = 0.647) regarding age. There was also no significant difference in gender distribution between the patients and control groups (P = 0.205). There was however a significant difference in anxiety and depression scores between the patients and healthy controls (P < 0.001). There was a significant positive correlation between anxiety score and depression score in both groups when data were analyzed by Pearson test. (P < 0.001, r = 0.604 and r = 0.521). Moreover, there was a significant positive linear correlation between the depression/anxiety scores and fasting blood glucose concentrations in the patients group (r = 0.3, P < 0.001) and a weak negative correlation in the healthy controls (r = -0.096, P < 0.05). Conclusions: Depression and anxiety are potentially important factors among patients with angiographically-defined CAD. There appear to be significant associations between glucose tolerance and anxiety and depression in these patients.