Stress in medical patients

It has been observed that the majority of medical patients demonstrate psychological distress (64%).A lot of studies have examined the prevalence of anxiety and depression among several categories of medical patients such as: cardiovascular, general surgery, infectious and neurovascular patients.

Another finding is that the prevalence of anxiety and depression in hospitalized medical patients is high, occurs mainly in women, and no relation to illness severity is observed. Anxiety and depression are associated with both illness perception of greater severity and less improvement

Several studies indicate a relationship among depression, anxiety, pain and hospitalization. Depression has a bidirectional relationship with cardiovascular disease, and it is observed in HIV-positive individuals, in cancer patients and it often complicates chronic pain.

Other findings suggest that there is consistently high prevalence rates of depression associated with negative medical, functional, and psychosocial outcomes in hospitalized, medically ill, older adults

Screening for anxiety and depression should be included in the clinical interview carried out by the nurse or the doctor at the moment of admission to the ward.