Anxiety Disorders Surprisingly Common Yet Often Untreated

thinkanxiety.org - A new study by researchers led by Kurt Kroenke,
M.D., of the Indiana University School of Medicine and the Regenstrief
Institute, Inc. reports that nearly 20 percent of patients seen by
primary care physicians have at least one anxiety disorder. The study
outlines the effectiveness of a new screening tool which can alert
busy primary care physicians to those patients with one or more
anxiety disorders. The study is published in the March 6 issue of the
Annals of Internal Medicine.

The GAD-7, a seven-question, self-administered screening tool,
identifies patients with undiagnosed generalized anxiety disorder,
panic disorder, post traumatic stress disorder or social anxiety
disorder. The new study, which looked at 965 patients in 15 primary
care clinics, found anxiety to be as prevalent as depression, and much
more common than previously thought, in patients who were visiting a
physician for a physical problem or illness.

"Anxiety often manifests as a physical symptom like pain, fatigue, or
inability to sleep, so it is not surprising that one out of five
patients who come to a doctor's office with a physical complaint have
anxiety," said Dr. Kroenke, I.U. School of Medicine professor of
medicine and Regenstrief Institute, Inc. research scientist. Dr.
Kroenke, an internist, is an internationally recognized researcher who
studies physical symptoms, especially pain, and their links to mental
disorders including anxiety and depression.

Dr. Kroenke and colleagues found that even administering the first two
questions of the GAD-7 flagged those patients with possible anxiety
disorders for physician follow-up. These questions ask the patient if
he or she has felt nervous or has been unable to stop or control
worrying over the previous two weeks. Bringing this information to the
physician's attention is important because the doctor may be focused
on the patient's physical complaints and unless prompted by the
patient or test results is unlikely to assess the patient's mental
status. ...cont.

http://www.thinkanxiety.org/article-2996106.htm

Tim Silva

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