Background: Depressive symptoms and anxiety are the two frequent mental disorders in the general population along with in clinical practice. The Patient Health Questionnaire—9 (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire–7 (GAD-7) are small screening scales used for recognition of depression and anxiety symptoms in all clinical settings. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate psychological illnesses by using factorial structure of the PHQ-9 and the GAD-7 in a tertiary care hospital of DHQ.

Methodology: This cross sectional study was carried out in the Department of Radiology DHQ Teaching hospital, Gujranwala. The duration of the study was about 7 months comprising from July 2021 to January 2022. A total of 230 patients of both genders with somatic complaints such as headache, anxiety, and depression were included in the study. Quantitative variables were reported as mean±SD, and qualitative variables were documented as frequency and percentages.

Results: The results findings revealed that out of 230 patients, 58(25.2%) were males and 172(74.8%) were females. Headache was the main reason for anxiety and depressive symptoms in 197(85.7%) patients. About 217(94.3%) patients advised for CT scan brain. According to PHQ, a mild depression was found in most of the cases 130(56.5%), and moderate depression observed in 31(13.47%) patients. There was an insignificant association observed between depression levels, (p=0.79). According to GADQ-7, minimal anxiety was reported in 26(11.3%) patients, mild anxiety was reported in 204(88.7%) cases with an insignificant association between both anxiety levels, (p=0.78).

Conclusion: This study concluded that females experienced more somatic complaints than males. Headache was the most common reason for psychological illnesses. Moreover, according to the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire-7, Mild anxiety and mild depressive symptoms were more prevalent with significant association found with respect to gender.

Keywords: Anxiety, depression, headache, Anxiety Disorder, Patient Health Questionnaire.