Prevalence of anxiety and depression among hirsutism patients in Herat city

Abstract

Background/Aim: Hirsutism induces mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety, so it is important to know the prevalence of these diseases in societies. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of anxiety and depression in patients with hirsutism in Herat city.

Material and methods: One hundred and thirty-eight patients with hirsutism were participated in the study. This study was conducted over one year (from August 1, 2018, to the end of July 2019) in Herat city of Afghanistan. The Ferriman-Gallwey scale is used for diagnosis and determining the severity of hirsutism, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) for diagnosis and severity assessment of depression and anxiety, a questionnaire for patients sociodemographic study, and the IBM program SPSS Statistics for analyzing the data.

Results: Anxiety (85 cases (61.5%)) was more prevalent among the study population than depression (73 cases (52.8%)). Anxiety was present in 7 cases (5.0%) of illiterate patients, 41 cases (29.7%) of school level, and 37 cases (26.8%) with higher education levels. Depression was present in 5.0% of illiterate, 23.9% of patients with the school level, and 23.9% of patients with a high level of education.

Conclusion: Despite the high prevalence of depression and anxiety in patients with hirsutism, there was no evidence to suggest a relationship between hirsutism and the high prevalence of depression and anxiety. We recommend further studies on the prevalence of depression and anxiety among the general population in Herat city.

Keywords: Anxiety, Depression, Ferriman-Gallwey scale, Hirsutism, Prevalence