Prevalence of symptoms, ever having received a diagnosis and treatment of depression and anxiety, and associations with health service use amongst the general population in two Russian cities

Abstract

Background Little is known about the burden of common mental disorders in Russia despite high levels of suicide and alcohol-related mortality. Here we investigated levels of symptoms, self-reports of ever having received a diagnosis and treatment of anxiety and depression in two Russian cities. Methods The study population was men and women aged 35–69 years old participating in cross-sectional population-based studies in the cities of Arkhangelsk and Novosibirsk (2015–18). Participants completed an interview which included the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scales, questions on whether participants had ever received a diagnosis of depression or anxiety, and health service use in the past year. Participants also reported current medication use and medications were coded in line with the WHO anatomical therapeutic classification (ATC). Depression was defined as PHQ-9 ≥ 10 and Anxiety as GAD-7 ≥ 10. Results Age-standardised prevalence of PHQ-9 ≥ 10 was 10.7% in women and 5.4% in men (GAD-7 ≥ 10 6.2% in women; 3.0% in men). Among those with PHQ-9 ≥ 10 17% reported ever having been diagnosed with depression (equivalent finding for anxiety 29%). Only 1.5% of those with PHQ-9 ≥ 10 reported using anti-depressants and 0.6% of those with GAD-7 ≥ 10 reported using anxiolytics. No men with PHQ-9 ≥ 10 and/or GAD-7 ≥ 10 reported use of anti-depressants or anxiolytics. Use of health services increased with increasing severity of both depression and anxiety. Conclusion There was a large gap between symptoms and reporting of past diagnosis and treatment of common mental disorders in two Russian cities. Interventions aimed at improving mental health literacy and reducing stigma could be of benefit in closing this substantial treatment gap.

Factors associated with depression among university students: the role of students satisfaction

“…However, the World Health Organization estimates the level of depression in Russia to be 5.5% (WHO 2017), one of the highest in the world. Non-representative studies conducted in selected regions report a prevalence rate (PHQ-9 ≥ 10) equal to 10.7% in women and 5.4% in men (Cook et al 2020). The Russian context is characterized by a plethora of factors contributing to high levels of depression such as increasing poverty rate, declining standards of living, complex socio-political background (Averina et al, 2005;Cook et al 2020, World Bank 2021) and at the same time, negative attitudes toward both depression and seeking professional help (Turvey, Jogerst, Kim, Frolova, 2012; Nersessova, Jurcik, Hulsey, 2019).…”

“…Non-representative studies conducted in selected regions report a prevalence rate (PHQ-9 ≥ 10) equal to 10.7% in women and 5.4% in men (Cook et al 2020). The Russian context is characterized by a plethora of factors contributing to high levels of depression such as increasing poverty rate, declining standards of living, complex socio-political background (Averina et al, 2005;Cook et al 2020, World Bank 2021) and at the same time, negative attitudes toward both depression and seeking professional help (Turvey, Jogerst, Kim, Frolova, 2012; Nersessova, Jurcik, Hulsey, 2019). National-level study representative for 20-21-year-olds report the prevalence of depression (PHQ-9 ≥ 10) at 20% for women and 12% for men (Dementeva , Smirnov, 2021).…”

Trends of Anger and Physical Aggression in Russian Women During COVID-19 Lockdown

“…Similar to previous reports, our data indicated that 77.4% of women under lockdown reported symptoms of moderate anxiety, while 54.8% of the entire cohort reported symptoms of mild depression ( 15 ). It is important to note that the values for these two categories of symptoms under normal conditions among Russian women were 4 and 25%, respectively ( 31 ). We did not find a significant difference between the two age groups studied.…”

Depression Screening in a population-based study: Brazilian National Health Survey 2019

“…For each item, possible answers and respective scores were: (0) "not at all", (1) "less than half of the days", (2) "more than half of the days", and (3) "almost every day". The PHQ-9 classified depression severity according to: none (1-4 points), mild (5)(6)(7)(8)(9), moderate (10)(11)(12)(13)(14), moderately severe (15)(16)(17)(18)(19), and severe (20-27) 8 . The scale, already validated in Brazil, allows for the identification of individuals likely to develop depression 9 .…”

“…High heterogeneity was found across the available estimates of depression due to methodological between-study variability. In Brazil, 11 different screening tools were used to assess depression morbidity in the 27 studies analyzed by Silva et al 4 , which resulted in a high variability of estimates: 14% (95%CI: [13][14][15][16]) of depressive symptoms, 8% (95%CI: 7-10) of major depressive disorder (MDD) in the last year, and 17% (95%CI: [14][15][16][17][18][19]) of lifetime MDD. The authors advocating the need for standardization of future research with a validated tool in a nationwide survey.…”