Background: Depression is a usual mental health disturbance that exhibits depressed frame of mind, absence of attention, or happiness. Today, depression is estimated to affect 350 million people. There is lack of data on the rates and risk factors of depression in the community; so, it was decided to conduct a study to assess the prevalence of depression and its severity in urban population of Aligarh.
Objective: To estimate the prevalence of depression in the study population and determine its severity in the study population.
Materials and Methods: This study is a part of larger cross-sectional, community-based study carried out in the field practice areas under Urban Health Training Center of the Department of Community Medicine, JN Medical College, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India. A sample size of 360 adults was chosen using systematic random sampling. Face-to-face interviews were then conducted with the study subjects using a semistructured pro forma for collecting the data for sociodemographic factors. Assessment of depression and its severity was done using the Hindi version of structured and prevalidated scale and patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9).
Result: The prevalence of depression was 9.7% in the study area, with majority of subjects showing moderate grades of depression. The prevalence of depression was more in female subjects.
Conclusion: This study concluded that there is a clear need to increase mental health services and to integrate this with general health services in our community.
Key words: Adult, depression, prevalence, sociodemographic, risk factors
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