Objective   To examine the positive rate and influential factors of anxiety and depressive symptoms among community patients with hypertension or diabetes and to provide evidences for future interventions.

  Methods   Patients with type-2 diabetes or hypertension registered in 3 community health service centers in 2 districts of Shanghai were recruited with cluster random sampling for a self-administered questionnaire survey during the period from August 2012 to February 2013. We identified participants with depressive or anxiety symptoms using Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-7 (GAD-7) and explored the factors related to these symptoms.

  Results   A total of 8 813 diabetes or hypertension patients completed the survey. The proportion of patients with depressive symptoms (score of PHQ-9≥ 5) and anxiety symptoms (score of GAD-7≥ 5) were 14.7 % and 7 %, respectively, and 16.0 % of the patients had either depressive or anxiety symptoms. The positive rates were the highest among the patients with both diabetes and hypertension (19.7 % for depression, 9.4 % for anxiety, and 21.3 % for depression or anxiety), followed by those among the patients with only hypertension (16.3 % for depression, 7.4 %, for anxiety, and 17.7 % for depression or anxiety); and the positive rates were lowest among the patients with only diabetes (12.3 % for depression, 5.9 % for anxiety, and 13.4 % for depression or anxiety) . Multivariate regression analyses indicated that depressive or anxiety symptoms were more prevalent in patients with lower education, divorced or widowed, with more complications, having more general hospital visits within previous six months, and with comorbided diabetes and hypertension.

  Conclusion   Depressive and anxiety symptoms are common in community-dwelling patients with hypertension or diabetes. Screening and intervention on these symptoms should be gradually incorporated into community health services to improve the health status of the patients.