The association between certain chronic diseases and health status with depression

Purpose Depression is more likely in patients with certain chronic diseases, and it is associated with increased rates of disability and mortality. The goal of this study was to determine the relationship between certain chronic diseases; hypertension, diabetes, asthma, low hemoglobin level and health status, with the presence of depression among general population. Method Cross-sectional study was conducted from 787 subjects in different age groups, who had participated in a major campaign in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during March 2012. Blood pressure (BP), random blood glucose (RBG), Serum hemoglobin (Hb), Beck Depression Inventory Scale (BDI) had been measured. Covariates included age, sex, and presence of hypertension, diabetes, or asthma. Results Of the 787 subjects participated in the study, 50.5% were females, 12.7% of study subjects were less than 25 years and 4.2% were 55 or more years of age. Measuring the Hb level was surprising, (14%) were having Hb level below 11 g/dl. BDI scale was used to screen for depression. The prevalence of depression among “medically free” population was (29.9%). The overall prevalence of chronic diseases among the study subjects including asthma, hypertension, and diabetes or combination of two diseases or more were 18.2%. Surprisingly, there was no significant relation between depression and chronic diseases with p -value 0.092. Conclusions The presence of chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and low hemoglobin level are not risk factors for having depressive symptoms among general population. Poor self-rated health status appears to be more strongly associated with depression than the presence of chronic disease.