Feasibility of using Arabic Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to assess anxiety and depression among patients attending Accident and Emergency at a University Hospital setting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of using Arabic Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to assess depression and anxiety among patients attending accident and emergency (A & E) at a University Hospital setting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Methods: In this prospective observational study translated questionnaire of HADS was used for patients aged 18 years or above who presented to A & E at King Khalid University Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The study included 257 patients as per an agreed inclusion criteria. The study quantified depression and anxiety and its association with demographic and or illness related variables using SPSS.

Results: Out of 257 participants, the dominant age group, ranged between 18-30 years (40.9%) with female participants (55.3%) outweigh the male among all. The overall occurrence of depression was 27.2% (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 21.8 % to 32.6%) and anxiety was 23% (17.8% to 28.2%CI). Marital, educational and economic status of participants, were statistically significantly associated (p<0.05) with the levels of anxiety whereas age, marital, education, economic and employment status were associated (p<0.05) with the levels of depression.

Conclusion: In the A & E setting at University Hospital in Saudi Arabia, comorbid depression and anxiety is not uncommon as enumerated by using HADS. The identified cases could then be sent for appropriate psychiatric treatment promptly not only to improve quality of individual care but also to reduce the overall health care costs in local context.