Clinical and psychopathological characteristics of patients with pulmonar y tuberculosis and anxiety-depressive disorders treated in a phthisiological hospital

Abstract

The aim of the research was to study the clinical and psychopathological characteristics of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in the active phase and identified anxiety and depressive disorders. The study included 145 patients with anxiety-depressive disorders: 85 patients with a diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis who were being treated in a phthisiological hospital (the main group) and 60 patients with anxiety-depressive disorders without a history of tuberculosis, who were under follow-up and treatment in a psychoneurological dispensary (comparison group). In addition, in the main clinical group, two subgroups were identified depending on the length of hospital stay: with hospital stays of up to 2 months (44 patients) and over 2 months (41 patients). The study assessed the level of anxiety-depressive disorders, asthenia, the nature and intensity of psychosomatic complaints, and signs of vegetative changes. The study showed the presence of more intense psychosomatic complaints, asthenic disorders, and signs of autonomic disorders among the patients with pulmonary tuberculosis compared to those without tuberculosis. Furthermore, in the main clinical group, there was an increase in anxiety-depressive symptoms, asthenic manifestations, and signs of vegetative changes during a longer stay in the phthisiological hospital. The obtained results are presented in the context of the concept of «psychosomatic proportion», implying the ratio of subjective and objective components of patients» psychosomatic status (intensity and structure of psychosomatic complaints and objectively detectable somatovegetative changes in the body). It is concluded that tuberculosis determines a more severe course of affective spectrum disorders and negatively affects the general psychosomatic state of patients, while a long stay in a phthisiological hospital contributes to the chronic course and aggravation of anxiety-depressive disorders, which indicates the need for timely detection and treatment of affective pathology, as well as taking into account predictors of its development in order to elaborate an integrated approach to the therapy of tuberculosis and concomitant mental disorders.