Prevalence of depression amongst adolescents in rural area of South India – a school based cross sectional study

Abstract

Introduction:Depression is common in adolescents and especially in high school students and is one of the most frequent mental disorders among teenagers. Depression in adolescents is an under recognized mental health problem because they remain indecisive to disclose their feelings and seldom seek psychiatric help. One of the factors that make depression so difficult to diagnose in adolescents is the common behavioural changes that are normally associated with the hormonal changes of this period. It has only been in recent years that the medical community has acknowledged childhood depression and viewed it as a condition which requires intervention.Materials and Methods:Aschool based cross-sectional study among adolescents was conducted by using self-administered structured "Patient Health Questionnaire-9 modified for Adolescents (PHQ-A) questionnaire" in rural field practice area of A.J.Instituteof Medical Sciences & Research Center, Mangaluru.Results:Total 284 students participated in the study and prevalence of depression was 49%. Prevalence of depression increased with age (p-value:0.001) and was higher among females (p-value:0.02).Discussion:Prevalence of depression in this study matched with other studies conducted in India. Majority of the students suffered from mild depression which indicates early diagnosis is crucial in prevention of progression to moderate and severe forms of depression.Conclusion:Prevalence of depression among adolescents is high. There is an urgent need for incorporation of simple screening methods for depression in school health program.

How prevalent is depression among rural school-going adolescents: A cross-sectional study in South Karnataka

“…Mild depression was prevalent among 29.7% participants from Chandigarh, 15.5% moderate, 3.7% moderately severe depression A relatively higher prevalence of 49% was reported by a school based study done among 248 adolescents in a rural area near Mangalore, Karnataka, using the PHQ-9; where 67.6% had mild depression, 23% moderate, 8.6% moderately severe and 0.8% had severe depression [9]. These studies among school-going adolescents point out the fact that across the country, adolescents are experiencing unacceptably high rates of depression.…”

“…There were two government schools and one government-aided school, and these three schools were included in the study. Based on a previous study [9], where the prevalence of depression among rural adolescents was found to be 49%, with an absolute precision of 10%, 95% confidence limits and a non-response rate of 30%, the sample size was determined to be 125. However, on request from the school authorities, we invited all adolescents enrolled in the three schools to participate in the study.…”

“…Previous studies show that the prevalence of adolescent depression in India is between 18% to 38% [5][6][7][8][9]. Most adolescents do not seek treatment for their depression because they often worry about the stigma attached to depression and the potential for negative reactions from family members [10].…”

Correlates of depression among school going adolescents in the urban area of Patna in eastern India

“…[ 20 ] from Chennai, south India (60.8%, mild 37.1%, moderate 19.4%, severe 4.3%); Chakraborty et al . [ 21 ] from Mangaluru, south India (49%); Urmila et al . [ 22 ] from Pariyaram, Kerala, south India (57.7%); Kumar et al .…”

“…Two studies from south India, viz. Chennai[ 20 ] and Mangaluru,[ 21 ] noted that depression among adolescents increases with age. However, Jayashree et al .…”