Depression

Abstract

… Prevalence & risk factors of depression among adult population of district Peshawar. Background: Depression is one of the most common major mental illnesses and affects 5% to 20% of the adult population and is related to many determinants. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence and risk factors of depression among the adult population. Study Design: A cross sectional descriptive study. Setting & Study Duration: The department of community medicine, Khyber medical college, Peshawar; among the adult population of district Peshawar; from November 2016 to May 2017. Materials & Methods: A total of 410 adults, both male and female, of ages 18 and above years were selected from the District Peshawar; on the basis of multistage probability sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data regarding the prevalence and risk factors of depression along with important variables. Data was analysed by Microsoft Office and SPSS, and results were presented in tables. Results: Results showed that the prevalence of depression was 85.85%. Out of the total depression, 24.88% had positive medical history; 57.8% had tobacco smoking; 29.02 % had history of abuse or neglect; 60.24% had sleep problems; and 18.29% & 10.49% were affected by terrorism and flood respectively. Conclusions: It was concluded that the prevalence of depression among the adult population of district Peshawar was high and shows strong association with predisposing determinants. Moreover, whole population needs to be screen to estimate the accurate prevalence and to treat high burden of mental illnesses among the community.