Anxiety, depression and quality of life in patients with a treated or untreated unruptured intracranial aneurysm

Living with an untreated unruptured intracranial aneurysm(UIA) is stressful, this study was aimed to assess the influence of UIA treatment (surgery clipping and endovascular coiling) on behavior such as anxiety and depression, as well as QoL. A series of 296 UIA patients (including 162 treated and 134 untreated) were analyzed. Postal questionnaires were sent to these patients, included Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-Rating Depression Scale(SDS) and Short Form-36(SF-36). In total, 198 (66.9%) patients responded to our questionnaires. Patients with surgical clipping or endovascular coiling had a significant improvement in the physical function, body pain and mental health domains. No significant difference in the SAS, SDS and SF-36 was observed between the clipping and coiling group, while SF 36 in body pain domain was significant higher in the coiling group. Moreover, patients diagnosed 5 years ago with or without treatment got lower score of SAS and SDS, higher SF-36 score than those diagnosed one year ago. Neurological complications may be an important factor causing lower quality of life. The QoL of patients with endovascular coiling appear to be better than those of surgical clipping, with no difference in anxiety or depression. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.