Prevalence Of Suicide Risks Among Patients With Anxiety Spectrum Disorders Attending Psychiatry OPD In A Tertiary Care Hospital: A Hospital Based Descriptive Cross Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: In patients suffering with anxiety spectrum disorders like generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic attacks/disorder, there may be increased risk of suicide. There are only few studies which revealed that increase in the severity of anxiety is associated with increased risk of suicide. Hence, we aimed to assess the prevalence of suicide risks among patients with Anxiety Spectrum disorders attending Psychiatry OPD in a tertiary care hospital. METHODOLOGY: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study done between January 2021 to April 2021.A total of 100 patients diagnosed to have different anxiety spectrum disorders diagnosed according to International classification of diseases -10 criteria are included in the study. Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety was applied to assess the severity of anxiety and the suicide risk was assessed using Beck’s Suicide Intent Scale. Data analysis was done by SPSS version 24 using appropriate statistical tests. RESULTS: Our study showed no significant association between the severity of anxiety and risk of suicide. There was no significant association between the duration of anxiety with the suicide risk. CONCLUSION: We found that there is no increased risk of suicide in patients with severe anxiety. But still there is a need to assess the risk of suicide in patients with anxiety disorders as in our study patients with obsessive compulsive disorders showed high scores on Beck suicide intent scale.