MENTAL-DISORDERS IN PATIENTS WITH NONCARDIAC CHEST PAIN

About 70% of noncardiac chest pain (NCCP) patients have mental disorde rs as reported from Western countries. The phenomenon of somatization is considered to be aetiologically important in the genesis of NCCP. T hough somatization is generally considered as more prevalent among non -Western cultures, systematic studies of mental disorder among NCCP pa tients are rare from developing countries. Based on treadmill test, 54 male inpatients in a cardiology general ward in India were divided in to a group having ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and another group of N CCP. A psychiatric interview was conducted blindly on these subjects w ith the help of a structured interview schedule, and DSM-III-R diagnos is was made. Sixty-eight percent in the NCCP group and 27% in the IHD group had a mental disorder. The total number of subjects with a menta l disorder, including panic disorder and major depression, were signif icantly more in the NCCP group. Mental disorders appears to be equally common among NCCP patients in developing countries also and detailed psychiatric assessment is warranted in patients with chest pain of non -IHD origin.