Scheda ansia e depressione forma ridotta: norme per l'utilizzo in ambito riabilitativo Anxiety and Depression Short Scale: norms for its use in rehabilitation

Anxiety and Depression Short Scale: norms for its use in rehabilitatio n. L. Moroni, O. Bettinardi, G. Vidotto, G. Balestroni, G. Bruletti, I. Giorgi, G. Bertolotti. In the rehabilitation setting it is important to identify clinically significant conditions of distress so as to be able to provide, in addition to the conventional multidisplinary re- habilitation treatment, specific psychotherapeutic interven- tions targeted to the individual's problems. This paper pre- sents the findings from a psychometric test for the measure- ment of anxiety and depression (AD-R Scale) administered at the start and end of a rehabilitation program in patients with cardiopulmonary disease. The study population con- sisted of 765 patients affected by cardiac and pulmonary disease undergoing an in-hospital course of intensive reha- bilitation. We observed that AD-R scores are related to sex, age and diseases. Among anxiety and depression scores there are statistically significant differences regarding sex: women achieved higher AD-R scores compared with men. Depression scores are influenced by age: younger subjects reached lower scores compared with the older ones. Among patients with respiratory disease, the subjects affected by chronic respiratory failure showed statistically significant higher depression scores compared to subjects affected by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchial asth- ma. Anxiety and depression scores among subjects affected by cardiac diseases did not show important differences. At the end of the multidisciplinary rehabilitation program, a significant reduction in both anxiety and depression scores was observed, compared to values at the start, particularly for those that, at the beginning of the rehabilitation pro- gram, reached clinically remarkable AD-R scores and in general for the youngest subjects. The paper also presents the means, standard deviations and percentile range of scores for anxiety and depression in the population studied, according to age, sex, underlying pathology or hospital division. The Scale AD-R appears to be a valid instrument for the screening of patients undergoing cardio-pulmonary rehabilitation and as an outcome index.