Abstract

Background: Depression is a mental disorder that is pervasive in the world and affects us all. It affects up to 50.6% of patients in medical settings. While the disorder can be reliably diagnosed and treated in primary care, it’s unrecognized and under managed. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and associated factors of depression among adult in patients in medical and surgical outpatient departments in Dessie referral hospital, north eastern, Ethiopia. Methods: A facility based cross-sectional study was conducted in March 2017 at Dessie referral hospital and comprised patients in the Medical and Surgical outpatient departments. The sample size was determined using a single population proportion formula. Participants were selected using systematic random sampling technique. The final calculated sample size was 424 adult patients. The prevalence of depression was assessed using Patient Health Qurstionnaire-9. Descriptive statics, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed using SPSS 20. Results: The prevalence of depression among the study participants was 39.1%. In this study, females were 2 times more likely to experience depression compared with males: [AOR=1.92, 95% CI: 1.15, 3.22] and Participants who were divorced and widowed were 3 times more likely to have depression as compared with participants who were married [AOR=3.07, 95% CI: 1.11,8.49]. Conclusion: The prevalence of depression among patients in medical and surgical OPDs in Dessie referral hospital was relatively high (39.1%). Depression had statistically significant association with age, sex, marital status, occupational status, chronic illness, substance use and family history of mental illness. The major implication of these study findings on the health system is the importance of ensuring support to primary health care services for early detection and referral of depression

Keywords: Depression; Magnitude; Associated factors; Patients