Psychiatric morbidity among hypertensive men: A controlled study

A study group of 39 hypertensive male patients and 36 healthy male control patients were recruited for this study, done in a primary health care (PHC) centre in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. The aim was to determine the prevalence and nature of psychiatric morbidity among the hypertensive group compared with the control group. A preliminary interview for recording medical history and sociodemographic data was carried out by PHC physicians. This was followed by a psychiatric interview by a psychiatrist using the Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS). Psychiatric diagnoses for identified cases were recorded in accordance with ICD-10 criteria. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity between the hypertensive group (17.9%) and the healthy group (5.6%). This is against the hypothesis that chronic medical illnesses are associated with higher psychiatric morbidity. The psychiatric morbidity identified consisted mainly of generalized anxiety disorder, depressive episode, and mixed anxiety and depressive disorders. There were no significant differences in the mean scores of the CIS-reported psychiatric symptoms between the two groups.