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Abstract Introduction Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is one of the commonest mental disorders affecting more than 250 million people globally. Patients with chronic illnesses had higher risks for developing MDD than the general population. Neurolathyrism is a chronic illness characterized by lifelong incurable spastic paralysis of lower extremities; causing permanent disability. It is highly prevalent in Dawunt district, Ethiopia; with a point prevalence of 2.4%. Despite this, there were no previous studies assessing the prevalence of MDD among patients with neurolathyrism in Ethiopia. Objective To assess the prevalence of MDD and to identify its associated factors among patients with neurolathyrism in Dawunt district, Ethiopia. Methods A community based cross-sectional study was conducted on 260 samples in Dawunt district from February 01 to March 30/ 2021. Multistage sampling technique was used to select study participants. The patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) depression screening tool was used to diagnose MDD. PHQ-9 is a standardized depression screening tool and a PHQ-9 score of ≥ 10 has a sensitivity and specificity of 88.0% 95% CI (83.0–92.0%) and 85.0% 95% CI (82.0–88.0%) for screening MDD. Data were collected by interview; entered to EpiData version 4.2.0; exported to SPSS version 25.0 for analysis; descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression model were used; AOR with 95% CI was used to interpret the associations; and finally results were presented by texts, charts, graphs, and tables. Results A total of 256 adult patients with neurolathyrism were participated; and the prevalence of MDD was found to be 38.7%. Being female AOR = 3.00; 95% CI (1.15, 7.84), living alone AOR = 2.77; 95% CI (1.02–7.53), being on neurolathyrism stage-3 AOR = 3.22; 95% CI (1.09, 9.54) or stage-4 AOR = 4.00; 95% CI (1.28, 12.48), stigma AOR = 2.69; 95% CI (1.34, 5.39), and lack of social/ family support AOR = 3.61; 95% CI (1.80, 7.24) were found to have statistically significant association with an increased odds of MDD; while regular exercise and ever formal counselling were found to have statistically significant association with a decreased odds of MDD. Conclusion The prevalence of MDD among neurolathyrism patients in Dawunt district was high. Lack of social support, stigma, not getting formal counselling, and not involving in regular exercise were modifiable risk factors. Therefore, social support, reducing stigma, formal counselling, and encouraging regular exercise might help to reduce the burden of MDD among neurolathyrism patients.
Bimerew et al. (Tue,) studied this question.