Prevalence and management of depression among patients with chronic disease: A cross sectional study

TL;DR

This study finds that depression is common among people with chronic diseases but often goes undiagnosed and untreated.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into the prevalence and management gaps of depression in patients with chronic diseases.

Findings

Depression was found to be highly prevalent among patients with chronic health conditions.

Depression was frequently underdiagnosed and under-treated in the studied cohort.

Abstract

Depression is a common comorbidity for patients with chronic health conditions, but its detection and treatment in the context of
usual care is significantly inadequate. Therefore, it is of interest to determine the prevalence of depression and the management of
depression among an adult population living with chronic health conditions attending outpatient services. A validated depression
screening tool was administered to assess symptoms of depression, and management of depression was assessed with structured questionnaires.
The findings revealed that depression was highly prevalent, and depression was frequently underdiagnosed and under-treated within the
cohort, which highlights the need for screening for depression and applying the integrated care management model based on evidence-based
guidelines into primary care contexts.