ATYPICAL CHEST PAIN IN SOLDIERS SERVING IN HARD AREAS: A CARDIOVASCULAR AND PSYCHODIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT

Atypical Chest Pain: Psychodiagnostic Assessment

Abstract

Objective: To assess the relationship between psychological illnesses and atypical chest pain in reported cases of soldiers serving in hard areas.
Study Design: A cross-sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) & National Institute of Heart Diseases (NIHD) Rawalpindi from Nov 2012 to Oct 2013.
Patients and Methods: Forty patients through non-probability convenience sampling were studied with complaints of chest pain besides no evidence of heart disease once assessed by ECHO, computerized tomography (CT) Angio, Thallium Scan and echocardiography (ECG), they were subjected to psychometric assessment.
Results: Out of 40 patients 72.5% (n=29) were found to have psychiatric illnesses including, depressive disorder (n=26), adjustment disorder (n=2), and malingering (n=1). Of these 29 patients, 42.5% (n=17) appeared with mild (acute) symptoms of depression and 15% (n=6.6) with moderate and severe depression respectively.
Conclusion: Psychiatric illnesses mostly go unrecognized and in order to over come the current stressor generally an individual tries to display it in socially acceptable organic disorders to avoid stigmatization.