The Relationship Between State-trait Anxiety and Childhood Trauma in Patients with Acute Chest Pain

Aim: In the present study, we examined to investigate whether state and trait anxiety are related to childhood trauma in patients with acute chest pain (ACP). We hypothesized that childhood trauma and/or state-trait anxiety may be predictive for the distinction between non-cardiac (NCCP) and cardiac chest pain (CCP). Materials and Methods: A diagnostic interview with 102 ACP patients was performed with DSM-IV Structured Clinical Interview-I (SCID-I). The State and Trait Anxiety Scale I-II (STAI I-II), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), and the short form of Childhood Trauma Scale (CTS-SF) were used to determine the level of state-trait anxiety, depression, and childhood trauma, respectively. The patients with NCCP (n=63) and CPP (n=39) were compared in terms of several sociodemographic and clinical variables. In addition to the correlation analyses, logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the associations of trait anxiety, and origin of cardiac pain. Results: The rate of male patients tended to be higher in the CCP group compared to the NCCP group (p=0.06). The patients in the NCPP group were younger than those in the CCP group (p<0.0001). In total sampling, the STAI II scores were significantly correlated with total, physical, and emotional abuse subscale scores of CTQ-SF and with the scores of HDRS. Logistic regression analyses indicated that female gender and earlier age were associated with NCCP. Conclusion: In our study, higher levels of trait anxiety seemed to be correlated with total, emotional, and physical subscale scores of CTQ-SF. Earlier age and female gender were found to be the predictors for non-cardiac origin of the chest pain.