Depression among Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis at the State Hospital of Makassar

BACKGROUND: Comorbidity of tuberculosis (TB) and depression is common. It is associated with the decrease in function, increasing rate of medical cost, nonadherence to long-term medication and self-care, and upward trend of mortality. This study aims to determine the prevalence and distribution of depression in pulmonary TB patients by age, sex, and marital status. METHODS: This study is a descriptive research conducted at the Pulmonary Clinic of the State Hospital of Makassar (RSUD Kota Makassar). Ninety-two of 820 patients were selected using the Slovin sample size formula. The patients of the study were collected from the population of patients with TB using consecutive sampling through an interview. The depression rate was examined using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) questionnaire. Interpretation of the BDI-II was determined by a score of ≤16 indicating no depression and >16 for depression. RESULTS: The study indicates that the percentage of patients with depression constituted 31.5%. The number of female patients with depression was higher than that in males with 38.2% and 27.6%, respectively. The biggest proportion of patients with depression was in senior patients (>45 years old) with 37.5%. The fraction of unmarried/divorced respondents was bigger than coupled respondents, with a percentage of 43.5 and 27.5, respectively. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of depression in pulmonary TB patients who visited the Pulmonary Clinic of the State Hospital of Makassar reached over one-third of the total patients. Depression was more prevalent among female patients, patients within the age of >45 years, and unmarried/divorced patients, respectively.