Living with Amputation: Anxiety and Depression Correlates.

INTRODUCTION: Trauma accounts for 16% of the total burden of disease in the world, making it a leading cause of morbidity and mortality especially in the developing nations. India represents about 10% (225million) of the total world workforce in agriculture. With the evolution of new machinery and better techniques of agriculture, there has been a substantial increase in the associated injuries. Depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress are among the predictors of poor quality of life (QOL).

AIM: This study was aimed to assess and correlate of traumatic amputation on the patient's mental health in the Northern Indian rural setting.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study included subjects who had undergone traumatic amputations. A pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire was administered to each study participant after an informed verbal consent. The questionnaire had two parts. The first part gathered socio-personal and the disability related information from the patient and the second part included a Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).

RESULTS: The mean anxiety and depression scores were 9.10±5.7 and 3.44±3.42, respectively. The length of original inpatient stay, people at hand for help, number of hospitalizations, number of follow ups per year, type of family (nuclear versus joint), pain perception, optimism, rehabilitation satisfaction and lower limb amputations correlated significantly with anxiety levels in the patients. The depression levels correlated significantly only with perception of pain.

CONCLUSION: The amputees have a large number of psychosocial concerns which need to be addressed to provide a holistic care and a better QOL. It is essential to sensitize the community, the health care providers and the patient's family to the additional psychosocial needs of the amputee.