Percentage and features of anxiety, depression and stress in adolescents and adults with sickle cell disease in Bahrain

Abstract EN

Objectives: To estimate the percentage of depression, anxiety, and stress among patients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD); and to study the demographic variables of patients with high depression, anxiety, and stress scores.

Study Design: This study is a cross-sectional study Setting: The Study took place at Salmaniya Medical Center (SMC) and Hereditary Blood Disorders Center (HBDC) for a period of 2 months from June to August 2019 Method: Data from 52 adolescents and 166 adults was obtained by questionnaires through convenient sampling from patients who were admitted to SMC and HBDC and were interpreted using the DASS-21 scoring system.

Results: The prevalence of anxiety was 74.9%, depression 60.7%, and stress 54.6% in the study sample.

In the study population, female patients showed extreme-severe anxiety, whereas males showed moderate anxiety.

Severe-extreme grades of depression were also more prevalent among the female patients.

The stress-gender association was found to have no significance (P-value 0.475).

The study also showed no statistical association between anxiety and age (P-value 0.095).

Most of the extreme depression grades were seen among patients in the elder age group, and the majority of normal grades were within the age group of 20-35 years.

The results also showed that stress levels increased with age.

Conclusion: Given the high prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress found among the study population; screening sickle cell disease patients for depression and anxiety is recommended for all age groups, especially for high-risk patients.

Furthermore, we advocate for incorporating appropriate care and support for patients who are affected with mental disturbances as part of their treatment plan.