Predictors, help-seeking behaviour and treatment coverage for depression in adults in Sehore district, India

BACKGROUND: National Mental Health Survey found that in India, the point prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) was 2.7% and the treatment gap was 85.2%, whereas in Madhya Pradesh the point prevalence of MDD was 1.4% and the treatment gap was 80%. AIMS: To describe the baseline prevalence of depression among adults, association of various demographic and socioeconomic variables with depression and estimation of contact coverage for the same. METHOD: Population-based cross-sectional survey of 3220 adults in Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh, India. The outcome of interest was a probable diagnosis of depression that was measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the proportion of individuals with depression (PHQ-9>9) who sought care for the same. The data were analysed using simple and multiple log-linear regression. RESULTS: Low educational attainment, unemployment and indebtedness were associated with both moderate/severe depression (PHQ-9 score >9) and severe depression only (PHQ-9 score >14), whereas age, caste and marital status were associated with only moderate or severe depression. Religion, type of house, land ownership and amount of loan taken were not associated with either moderate/severe or only severe depression. The contact coverage for moderate/severe depression was 13.08% (95% CI 10.2–16.63). CONCLUSIONS: There is an urgent need to bridge the treatment gap by targeting individuals with social vulnerabilities and integrating evidence-based interventions in primary care. DECLARATION OF INTEREST: None. COPYRIGHT AND USAGE: © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2017. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license.