Prevalence, correlates and recognition of depression among inpatients of general hospitals in Wuhan, China☆
Received 16 October 2009; accepted 27 January 2010. published online 11 March 2010.
Abstract
Objective
To determine the prevalence, correlates and recognition of depression among inpatients of general hospitals in Wuhan, China.
Method
A total of 513 patients were randomly selected from 1923 inpatients from three general hospitals and evaluated with a Chinese version of the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV Axis I disorders by eight psychiatrists. Logistic regression was used to identify factors that were associated with depression.
Results
The prevalence (95% confidence interval) of all current depressive disorders and major depressive disorder (MDD) was found to be 16.2% (13.0–19.4%) and 9.4% (6.8–11.9%), respectively. The correlates for depression include higher hospital class, divorce/being widowed/separation, low family income, chronic diseases, lack of medical insurance, dwelling in rural area, suffering from severe illness and multiple hospitalization history. None of the patients with current MDD were detected, treated or referred to psychiatric consultation.
Conclusions
The prevalence of depression among inpatients of general hospitals in Wuhan, China, was high. None of the depressive patients were recognized or treated for depression, indicating a serious neglect of depression in general hospitals. Our studies suggest an urgent need to improve clinicians' ability to detect and treat depression.
Affiliated Mental Health Center, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan Mental Health Center, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 13971281838.
☆ Role of funding source: This study was supported by grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number 30770754) and the Affiliated Mental Health Center of Tongji Medical College of the Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
ABSTRACT