Depressive symptomatology among residents of the rural area of a city in Southern Brazil

Abstract

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the prevalence and demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral and health factors associated with depressive symptomatology in rural residents.METHODSThis is a population-based, cross-sectional study with a representative sample of 1,453 residents aged 18 years or over of the rural area of the city of Pelotas, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. We used the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale to evaluate depressive symptomatology, considering the cutoff point ≥ 8 points. We evaluated the association between the outcome and the independent variables using Poisson regression.RESULTSThe prevalence of depressive symptomatology was 35.4% (95%CI 31.5–39.3). After adjustment, the depressive symptomatology was higher among women (PR = 1.77, 95%CI 1.46–2.15), individuals with low education level (0–4 years of study) (PR = 1.62, 95%CI 1.22–2.16), worse socioeconomic conditions (classes D or E) (PR = 1.49, 95%CI 1.22–1.83), and with chronic diseases (PR = 1.74, 95%CI 1.24–2.45).CONCLUSIONSThe high prevalence of depressive symptomatology in rural residents indicates the relevance of depression as an important public health problem in this population. Specific attention should be aimed at the subgroups that presented the highest prevalence of symptomatology.

The role of rurality on factors associated with major depressive episode screening among Brazilian adults in a national household survey

“…A study carried out in the urban area of the city of Pelotas in Brazil found an association between depressive episode and younger ages (Munhoz et al, 2013), similarly to previous studies (Probst et al, 2006;Romans et al, 2011). On the other hand, another study carried out in the rural area of the same city showed that the prevalence was higher in the elderly group (Hirschmann et al, 2018). The literature also suggests a possible cohort effect, with higher prevalence of depression in younger cohorts (Lundin et al, 2018;Twenge et al, 2019).…”

Mood Symptoms, Suicide, and Associated Factors Among Jimma Community. A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The current study was conducted 5 years later than the WHO study; various changes such as economic inflation, ethnic violence, increased Khat (local stimulant leaf), and other substance use in the area could be the probable contributing factors for the high prevalence of depression in the area. Yet, the result is lower than the studies done among adolescents living in the cities of Kenya (26.4%) (56) and South Brazil (35.4%) (11). The discrepancy could be explained by as follows: this study was conducted in the rural area of the country compared to the Kenya and Brazil studies.…”

“…Mental health problems such as mood disorders are associated with multiple factors such as gender, income ( 10 ), education level, socioeconomic conditions, medical illness ( 11 , 12 ), age, substance use ( 13 ), stressful life events ( 14 , 15 ), history of parental substance use ( 16 ), residence, marital status ( 17 , 18 ), perceived racism and discrimination ( 19 , 20 ), domestic violence ( 15 ), death of a close relative ( 21 ), birth order ( 22 , 23 ), violence, migration, sexual abuse experience, life-threatening and physical injuries, difficulties with family relationships, and low emotional support at home during childhood ( 24 , 25 ).…”

Problemas de saúde mental na população rural brasileira: prevalência, fatores de risco e cuidados

“…Um estudo relacionando saúde mental e comorbidades em moradores da zona rural no município de Pelotas-RS detectou transtorno depressivo em 35,4% deles, destacando-se uma maior prevalência em pessoas com doenças crônicas. 16 Este estudo demonstrou que, quanto maior o número de doenças crônicas, maior a predominância de sintomatologia depressiva. Pessoas com hipertensão, diabetes mellitus e doença cardíaca apresentaram quase duas vezes mais sintomas do que aqueles sem alguma dessas doenças.…”