Lilian Lopes Sharovsky
University of São Paulo, Brazil
Title: Anxiety symptoms in patients with cardiovascular risk factors
Biography
Biography: Lilian Lopes Sharovsky
Abstract
Different studies have clearly and convincingly demonstrated the important correlation between psychological factors and pathogenesis of coronary artery disease, particularly of depressive symptoms. Nevertheless, symptoms of anxiety are also considered fundamental to higher cardiovascular risk. Traditional risk factors such as hypertension, high blood glucose levels, obesity, increased waist circumference, dyslipidemia can be directly related to alcohol abuse, a hyper caloric diet, rich in carbohydrates, saturated fat and sedentary life in an attempt by the patient to control symptoms of anxiety. However, the latter tend to be under diagnosed in clinical practice contributing to a metabolic deterioration and the occurrence of vascular events. Therefore, it is essential to early identify persons with high psychological risk.
The aim of the study was to analyze the intensity of anxiety symptoms using the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HARS) in 136 participants (69 women) without a coronary event history, cerebrovascular and / or psychiatric illness and had not suffered a significant stressor in the last 6 months (bereavement, job loss or violence) and presenting aggregation of cardiovascular risk factors under ambulatory treatment.
93 participants (68.4%) had serious or very serious symptoms of anxiety, 17 (12.5%) moderate symptoms, in women the mean score was 36.7 (very serious) and men was 26 (severe) (Mann Whitney p <0.0001).
Early psychological diagnosis of anxiety symptoms can contribute to prevent cardiovascular events in patients with increased cardiovascular risk factors.
