The Risk of Chronic Diseases in Individuals Responding to a Measure for the Initial Screening of Depression and Reported Feelings of Being Down, Depressed, or Hopeless

Introduction Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless may provide a comprehensive measure for physicians to utilize, allowing a possible way to assess risk for chronic diseases. Methods A face-to-face, in-home, validated survey was conducted on participants aged 16 and older. Trained interviewers administered the questionnaire through the Computer-Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) system. Through this measure, responses such as feelings of depression, diagnosis of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, being overweight, coronary heart disease, and cancer or malignancy were recorded. Statistical analysis was conducted by descriptive analysis, Chi-Square test, and multinomial regression analysis. Results: Data are presented as a mean ± SD and percentage. A total of 10560 individuals participated in the survey. Of participants reporting feeling down, depressed, or hopeless almost every day, 54.3% reported high blood pressure (χ2=116.108, p= 0.000), 44.1% with high cholesterol level (χ2=54.89, p= 0.000), 22.9% with diabetes (χ(2)=91.09, p= 0.000), 25.0% with asthma (χ2=93.83, p= 0.000), 49.5% had a doctor tell them they were overweight (χ2=59.32, p= 0.000), 8.2% had coronary heart disease (χ2=32.39, p= 0.000), and 11.4% that had cancer or malignancy (χ2=7.73, p= 0.655). This is compared to individuals who reported no feelings of depression, with 34.2% having high blood pressure, 32.2% with high cholesterol, 12.9% with diabetes, 14.1% told they had asthma, 14.1% told they were overweight, 3.9% with coronary heart disease, and 9.4% who had cancer or malignancy. Conclusion The assessment of feeling down, depressed, or hopeless is significantly associated with the risk of certain chronic diseases, with those who reported feelings of depression nearly every day at the highest risk.