The prevalence of comorbid anxiety disorders in outpatients with schizophrenia

Abstract

Objective. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of lifetime anxiety disorders in patients with schizophrenia in Sanliurfa, Turkey, and to assess the association between comorbidity and several demographic and clinical variables. Methods. Eighty-two outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia were recruited for the study. They were assessed by means of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV axis I Disorders-Clinician Version (SCID-I-CV), Anxiety Disorder Module, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS), and the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF). Results. Fifty-five (67.1%) were diagnosed with at least one lifetime comorbid anxiety disorder. The most common anxiety disorder was obsessive-compulsive disorder (39.0%), followed by social phobia (13.4%). We found patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia with comorbid anxiety disorders had shorter duration of illness than those without such comorbid conditions. Atypical antipsychotics were more commonly prescribed to treat these patients. Conclusion. As comorbidity of anxiety disorders is relatively prevalent among patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, special attention to this issue should be paid when interviewing these patients.

Anxiety and depression in psychosis: a systematic review of associations with positive psychotic symptoms

“…Similar findings have been reported using a sample of out‐patients, with 41.5% reaching criteria for a concurrent anxiety disorder . Rates are also substantial in community samples who meet criteria for a diagnosis of schizophrenia and reports of lifetime rates even higher at 67% , with earlier papers reporting comparable figures .…”

Coping Styles Among Individuals with Severe Mental Illness and Comorbid PTSD

“…A more detailed configuration of the referenced articles and their corresponding SMI definitions are shown in Table 1. This is not to say that anxiety disorders are not often present among persons with SMI, in fact, many research findings assert otherwise (Buckley, Miller, Lehrer, & Castle, 2009;Ciapparelli et al, 2007;Nebioglu & Altindag, 2009). Nonetheless, anxiety disorders are not commonly recognized as primary conditions accounting for the SMI label.…”

Validity and Reliability of the Staden Schizophrenia Anxiety Rating Scale

“…Anxiety in schizophrenia is common and may present concurrently both as a specified anxiety disorder and in an undifferentiated way [1]. The pooled prevalence rate of specified anxiety disorders in schizophrenia was 38.3% in a meta-analysis of 52 studies, which was higher than the 28.8% reported for the general population [2,3]. In another study, the prevalence was 45% in schizophrenia patients compared to 16% among controls [4].…”