Prevalence of Depression and Patterns among Adult Hypertensive Patients Attending a Primary Care Clinic in South-South, Nigeria

Abstract

Depression is a chronic mental illness, an important health problem and a leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide. Depressed patients present with a depressed mood, loss of interest in pleasurable activities, decreased energy, feelings of low self-worth or guilt, appetite or sleep disturbances, and poor concentration. Depressive symptoms are common in chronic medical illnesses like hypertension but are not recognized and treated. This study evaluated the prevalence and pattern of depression among hypertensive patients in a primary care clinic in South-South, Nigeria. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study involving 312 adult hypertensive patients attending the Family Medicine clinic of the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt selected by a systematic random sampling method. A specially designed questionnaire was used to record participants' characteristics and Patient Health Questionnaire 9 was used to evaluate for depressive symptoms. The data collected were analysed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20. The study lasted for 3 months and ethical approval was obtained from the ethical committee of the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital. The study showed that the prevalence of depression was 26.6%. The respondents with ages ranging between 50 – 59 years had the highest frequency of depression, 30.1% (25). More female respondents 71.1% (59) were depressed. The highest proportion of the respondents that were depressed 42.2% (35) had secondary education. More than half of the depressed respondents were married 57.8% (48). More than half of the respondents, 62.7% (52) had a monthly income below ₦50,000.