Background Depressive and anxiety disorders are common in primary care setting but often
remain undiagnosed. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is also prevalent in the general population
and can impair recognition of common mental disorders due to significant co-morbidity and
overlap with psychiatric symptoms included in self-reported depression/anxiety screening
tools. We investigated if MetS has an impact on the accuracy of current major depressive
disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) screening results using the Hospital …

Introduction: Mental disorders are common in the general population with reported point-
prevalence rate in Lithuania reaching 23%[1]. Timely identification of patients suffering from
mental disorders is very important for effective treatment outcomes. The Hospital Anxiety and
Depression scale (HADS) is commonly used and widely studied instrument for screening of
depressive and anxiety disorders in Lithuania and has demonstrated good psychometric
properties [2]. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is often co-morbid with mental disorders [3] and …