Depressive and anxious patients feeling anguish after toracic pain: The relevance to the psychiatry

Abstract

Introduction: Anguish is defined as a sensation of precordial chest tightness or oppression that has an emotional origin. Objetive: To investigate whether anguish is more related to depression or to anxiety, and to identify which variables or symptoms are most predictive of the state of anguish. Methods: Were surveyed 100 patients treated at the general, anxiety and adult affective disorders outpatient clinics of the Institute of Psychiatry of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Results: An important depression diagnostic variable (MINI Depression) was selected in the model (at the 10% level) and its interpretation corroborates the central hypothesis of the study. Correspondence analysis also points to clues in the direction of the research hypothesis. As for the second objective, under the same logistic model, the following variables were shown to be related to the state of anguish: Gender, Reduced HAM-A Score, BSI Somatization, BSI Hostility, BSI Obsession-Compulsion, Age and MINI Depression. Conclusion: The results of this research highlight the need for promoting a more criterious investigation about the role of anguish in mental health.