OBJECTIVE: See if Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) results are intertwine with the demographic characteristics of a portuguese ophthalmic surgical population.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: 
Prospective study, 135 ophthalmic surgical patients, 18 to 88 years, between august 2016 and February 2017.
Approved by hospital’s Ethics Committee.
Answers were taken after patient’s formal consent in the immediate pre-operatory, trough demographic data collection, verbal anxiety scale (VAS) with scores from 0 to 10 and HADS which has 14 questions, of which 7 evaluate anxiety and 7 depression. The sum of each of those 7 has a maximum score of 21. Raw scores were then interpreted according a cut-off value of 8, with below 8 being no anxiety/no depression and above 8 anxious/depressed.
Sample profile: gender, age, family, domestic and professional status, schooling, residence, medical history, anxiety history, ASA (American Society of Anesthesia) and waiting time until surgery.
Patients from the emergency room, unable to communicate, with cognitive deficit and major psychiatry disease were excluded.
Descriptive and analytic statistics performed using software SPSS IBM v.22. Association tests were then applied to seek a connection between the variables mentioned and anxiety and depression from the HADS. Statistically significant difference given by p value <0,05.
RESULTS:
Average age 67,8; men 54,1%; married 71,9%; Middle School 75,6%; Retired 66,7%; Rural residence 75,6%; Live together 82,2%; Anxiety history 53,3%; ASA II 76,3%; under 60 minutes waiting time 54,1%.
From the variables mentioned and tested, only professional occupation showed a statistically significant association with both anxiety and depression arms from HADS questionnaire.
CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION:
Sample’s average age is high, most married, with middle school education, rural residence and retired. In this ophthalmic ambulatory unit waiting time after entry until surgery is less than 60 min.
The results are clear by establishing a strong connection between professional occupation and both anxiety and depression. It’s more likely a patient being anxious and depressed if he’s working, and is more likely a patient being not depressed if he’s retired.
Thereby assumptions regarding the connection between patient’s personal information and the probability of anxiety and/or depression should be carefully inferred, as there may be no connection at all.


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