Pos1453-Pare Screening and Linkage to Psychiatric Services for Depression and Anxiety in Sle Patients- A Cross-Sectional Study From a Tertiary Care Center in South India

Background: Depression and anxiety disorders are one of the most common neuropsychiatric (NP) manifestations in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) with prevalence varying from 2.1–78.6% and 2.9–84.9%, respectively 1. Delay in detection of mental disorders has a significant negative impact on quality of life and disability in lupus patients. Objectives: 1) To estimate the prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders in SLE. 2) To estimate the rates of linkage to psychiatric services among SLE patients who screen positive for depression and/ or anxiety disorders 3) To examine medical and social factors associated with depression and anxiety disorders in SLE patients. Methods: We sampled consecutive SLE outpatients from March 2021 to July 2022. Socio-demographic and disease (clinical and laboratory) variables were captured. All patients were screened for anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire -7 (GAD-7)) and depression (Patient Health Questionnaire -9 (PHQ-9)) with cut-off scores of ≥10 for both measures. Results: Out of 160 SLE patients included in the study, 42 (26.3%) screened positive for anxiety disorder and/ or depression. Specifically, 25 (15.6%) screened positive for both depression and anxiety disorder, 13 for depression only and 4 for anxiety disorder only. 31 (19.3%) reported thoughts of self-harm. All positive screens were counselled and referred to a psychiatrist for assessment, of which only 24 (57%) agreed to meet psychiatrist. Of the patients who met the psychiatrist, 20 (83.33%) received a clinical diagnosis (Figure 1). Lower socioeconomic status and the presence of NP event in the past were found to be significantly associated with a positive screen for depression and anxiety disorders respectively (Table 1). Conclusion: Depression and anxiety disorders are highly prevalent among SLE patients. Most patients who screen positive for depression and anxiety disorders receive a psychiatric diagnosis following clinical assessment. Linkage to psychiatric services is a significant barrier to comprehensive care in patients with SLE and comorbid depression and anxiety disorders. REFERENCES: 1 Moustafa AT, Moazzami M, Engel L, Bangert E, Hassanein M, Marzouk S, et al. Prevalence and metric of depression and anxiety in systemic lupus erythematosus: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2020;50(1):84. Acknowledgements: NIL. Disclosure of Interests: None declared.