Epidemiological study of depressive disorders among patients attending outpatient clinics of Assiut University Hospitals

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Abstract

Background
Depression is a common mental health problem, seen frequently in general medical settings. Primary care physicians are more likely to see patients with depression than with any other disorder, except hypertension.
Aim
To estimate the percentage of depressive disorder among patients attending outpatient clinics of Assiut University Hospitals.
Methods
A cross-sectional study was carried out during a 1-year period from 1 June 2006 to 31 May 2007; 2304 individuals 15 years of age and older were screened for depression using the Beck Depression Inventory. Patients who scored 4 or more were further evaluated using a psychiatric sheet especially prepared for the present work. The psychiatric diagnosis of patients was made on the basis of the DSM-IV-TR criteria.
Results
Depression was found in 202 patients, representing 8.8% of the entire sample, with 167 patients (82.7%) classified as having major depressive disorder, 28 patients (13.9%) with depressive disorder NOS, 26 patients (12.9%) with minor depression, two patients (1%) with postpartum depression, five patients (2.5%) with dysthymic disorder, and finally two patients with bipolar disorder, depressive episode. Depression was found to be significantly higher among female patients, highly educated, literate individuals, nonworking men, and among divorced/widowed/separated individuals. Depressive disorders were also significantly higher among patients with certain medical conditions (e.g. malignancy, disfiguring conditions, autoimmune conditions, renal diseases, and hepatic diseases).
Conclusion
Depression is a common mental health problem, seen frequently in general medical settings, and necessitates close psychiatric attention and management.

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