Association Between Prevalence of Depression and Anxiety in Cystic Fibrosis Patients and Their Parents: A Cross-sectional Study in Iran

Background: Patients with chronic diseases and their caregivers are at risk for mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms among cystic fibrosis (CF) patients and their parent caregivers in Iran. Methods: This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was carried out on 96 participants, including 60 patients and 36 parents. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was used to measure the depression and anxiety in this study. The research site was the Pediatric Respiratory Diseases Research Center of the National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases in Tehran, Iran. SPSS software (version 22) was used to examine and analyze the raw data. Results: The prevalence of anxiety in patients with a mean incidence of 12.17% was higher than that in parents with a mean incidence of 11.81%. Moreover, the prevalence of depression in patients and parents (10.58%) was almost similar. In the patients’ group, there was a direct and significant relationship between the duration of diagnosis with depression and anxiety; nevertheless, there was an inverse and significant relationship between the patient’s age and anxiety. In the parents’ group, there was a significant inverse association between age and depression, as well as between the duration of diagnosis and anxiety. However, there was no significant relationship between anxiety and depression, neither in the parents’ group nor in the patients’ group. Conclusions: The high prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms among CF patients and their parents indicates the poor mental state of these individuals, which requires planning and implementation of psychological interventions for this group.