Prevalence and demographics of anxiety disorders: a snapshot from a community health centre in Pakistan

A cross-sectional study was conducted among people visiting Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), a tertiary care facility in Karachi, Pakistan. The point prevalence of anxiety amongst the sample population, which comprised of patients and their attendants, excluding all health care personnel, was assessed using the validated Urdu version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The questionnaire was administered to 423 people. Descriptive statistics were performed for mean scores and proportions.The mean anxiety score of the population was 5.7 ± 3.86. About 28.3% had borderline or pathological anxiety. The factors found to be independently predicted with anxiety were, female sex (odds ratio (OR) = 2.14, 95% CI 1.36–3.36, p = 0.01); physical illness (OR = 1.67, 95% CI 1.06–2.64, p = 0.026); and psychiatric illness (OR = 1.176, 95% CI 1.0–3.1, p = 0.048). In the final multivariate model, female sex (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2, 95% CI 1.28–3.22) and physical illness (AOR = 1.56, 95% CI 0.97–2.48) were found to be significant.Further studies via nationally representative surveys need to be undertaken to fully grasp the scope of this emerging public health issue in Pakistan.Anxiety is a state of apprehension, uncertainty, and fear arising from the anticipation of a realistic or imagined threatening event, often impairing physical and psychological functioning. General anxiety disorder (GAD) is the most common anxiety disorder, with a lifetime prevalence of 5.1% in the US [1]. The entity of general anxiety was originally conceptualized by Freud, who coined the term "anxiety neurosis". This included four major clinical syndromes: general irritability, chronic apprehension, anxiety attacks and secondary phobic avoidance [2]. The definition of GAD has changed over time and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition(DSM-4) takes persistent worry over 6 months along with three of the following six symptoms to be present: restlessness, fat