Prevalence of depressive disorders in general practitioners

• Main Authors: Fišeković-Kremić Marina B., Glavinić-Mijić Marija B., Tomić-Smiljanić Marijana V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Serbian Medical Society, Belgrade 2019-01-01
• Series: Opšta Medicina
• Subjects: depression; general medicine; health care providers
• Online Access: https://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/0354-7132/2019/0354-71321901001F.pdf
• ISSN: 0354-7132; 2217-3994

Introduction: Depressive disorders are considered the health problems of great significance and are listed as some of the earliest known diseases in medi-cine. Objective: To determine the prevalence of depression, its forms among doc-tors in general medicine and what is the association between depression and socio-demographic characteristics. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted. The sample consisted of doctors who attended General Medicine Days meeting in Belgrade, in 2018. The prevalence of depression among the doctors in general medicine was estimated by using a PHQ-9 questionnaire. Data were presented as frequencies (%), Pearson's X 2 test was used for measuring the difference between variables and identification of depression predictors. Data were processed with a SPSS 20 software statistical package. The statistical significance was defined for a p<0.05 level. Results: The total number of the participants was 394, of whom 43 (10.9%) were men and 351 (89.1%) women, of average age 53±10.4 years. Out of the total number of the participants, 51 (12.9%) had some form of depression: 32 (62.7%) had a mild form of depression, 9 (17.6%) had a moderate form and 10 (19.6%) had a severe form. There was no association between depression and sociodemograph-ic characteristics of the participants, apart for their age.The doctors who had a mild or moderate form of depression were 50 years of age or older. The severe form of depression was found among doctors who were in the 40-49 years age group. Conclusion: Prevalence of depression among the general practitioners is 12.9%. The frequency of depression is associated with the age of the participants. Further research is needed in order to identify the efficient strategies for the pre-vention and treatment of depression.