Anxiety-depressive spectrum disorders in patients with chronic nonspecific pharyngitis

Introduction. Anxiety-depressive spectrum disorders (ADSD) represent a significant medico-social burden, substantially complicating the course of somatic diseases. Despite the recognized impact of affective disorders on the course and treatment outcomes of chronic ENT pathology, the prevalence and structure of ADSD, particularly in patients with chronic nonspecific pharyngitis (CNP), remain largely unexplored.

Aim. Тo assess the prevalence, structure and severity of ADSD in patients with CNP.

Materials and methods. We screened 90 patients in the treatment group with a verified diagnosis of chronic pharyngitis who underwent outpatient and inpatient treatment at N.A. Semashko Nizhny Novgorod Region Clinical Hospital and Department of Ear, Throat, and Nose Diseases named after V.Yu. Shakhov of Privolzhsky Research Medical University of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation and 40 volunteers in the comparison group without chronic inflammatory pharyngeal pathology. Screening for affective disorders was performed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). We evaluated the structure of the disorders (isolated anxiety, isolated depression, mixed disorder), the phenotype of depressive syndrome, and the specific severity of cancerophobia.

Results. The overall prevalence of ADSD in patients with CNP was 38.9%. The structure of affective pathology was significantly dominated by isolated anxiety (57.1%) and mixed anxiety-depressive disorder (34.3%). A trend towards a predominance of the anxious depression phenotype (80.0%) over the melancholic phenotype was observed in the CNP group. Cancerophobic experiences were reported by 34.4% of respondents with anxiety disorders.

Conclusions. Chronic nonspecific pharyngitis is associated with a high frequency of anxiety-depressive disorders, primarily of the anxious and mixed spectrum. These findings substantiate the need for interdisciplinary collaboration between otorhinolaryngologists and psychotherapists to optimize treatment and rehabilitation strategies for this patient population.

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