Mazhar Malik, Fatima Bilal, Sajida Kazmi, Farkhanda Jabeen.
Depression and anxiety in dissociative (conversion) disorder patients at a tertiary care psychiatric facility.
Rawal Med J Jan ;35(2):224-6.

Objective: To estimate the frequency of depression and anxiety in dissociative (conversion disorder) patients reporting at a tertiary care Psychiatric facility of Fauji Foundation Hospital Rawalpindi. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in the Department of Psychiatry of a tertiary care facility, Fauji Foundation Hospital Rawalpindi. 100 consecutive patients between ages of 13-60 years, diagnosed as conversion disorder from December 2009 to May 2010 were included in the study. The diagnosis was based on 1CD-10 (International classification of mental disorders, 10th edition) criteria. All underwent detailed assessments which included physical examination, ICD-10 diagnostic criteria of conversion disorder, demographic profile assessment, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD). The data were analyzed using SPSS package version 10. Results: Majority of patients were young, female, formally educated, rural residents, unmarried, unemployed, having no family history of mental illness and presented via out-patients department. Dissociative convulsions (63%) were the most common presentation followed by dissociative motor disorder (24%), mixed dissociative disorder (8%), dissociative anesthesia and sensory symptoms (4%) and trance and possession disorder (1%). HAD scale analysis revealed that both anxiety and depression scores were clinically significant in majority of patients. Conclusions: Our study showed substantially high rates of depression (61%) and anxiety (60%) in Conversion Disorder patients. Further research involving larger sample size and longitudinal follow up is required to elucidate possible perspective. (Rawal Med J 2010;35:224-226).

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