Mental Health and Quality of Life among Egyptian Patients with Esophageal Motility Disorders: A Psychiatric Assessment

Abstract

Background and study aim: This study aimed to assess the effect of esophageal motility disorders on quality of life, anxiety, and depression among Egyptian patients. Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 38 patients with esophageal dysmotility who visited GIT motility unit at Ain Shams specialized hospitals from April to November 2022. The manometry was done for all patients. The study assessed clinical symptoms, quality of life using the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF instrument, and anxiety and depression using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), respectively. Results: The mean age of the patients was 36.6 ± 9.7 years, and 63.2% were male. Most patients (75.7%) had higher education, and 70.3% were employed. Of the patients, 34.2% were diagnosed with outflow disorders, and 57.9% had hypomotility peristaltic disorders. The mean score of the WHOQOL-BREF domains was 56.08 ± 19.2 for physical health, 60.74 ± 19.8 for psychological health, 61.9 ± 25.9 for social relationships, and 57.7 ± 18.8 for environmental health. Males were more affected in the environmental domain, while females scored lowest in the physical health domain among all other quality-of-life assessment domains. The BDI and BAI assessments showed that most patients had moderate degrees of anxiety (42.1%) and depression (26.3%). Patients with a mean age of 41.6±8.4 showed statistically significant moderate levels of depression severity according to the BDI. Conclusion In our studied patients, all domains of quality of life are affected, with variable affection of mental health as regards depression and anxiety.