Prevalence of major depressive disorder among wives of men with alcohol use disorder-a cross-sectional study from a tertiary care hospital

• Main Authors: Vijunath Thilakan, Krishnan Sivasubramoney, Mili Babu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Indian Psychiatric Society (Kerala State Branch 2021-04-01
• Series: Kerala Journal of Psychiatry
• Subjects: major depressive disorder, alcohol use disorder, wives
• Online Access: https://kjponline.com/index.php/kjp/article/view/238
• ISSN: 0377-0699; 2395-1486

Background: Alcohol Use Disorder is highly prevalent in India. Alcohol acts as a continuous stressor, with several stressfull consequences on the wife. Literature suggests an association between alcohol use in the husband and depression in the wife. Objectives: The primary objective was to assess the prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder(MDD) among wives of men with Alcohol Use Disorder attending the Psychiatry Department in a tertiary care centre. The secondary objective was to assess the association of various sociodemographic and clinical variables with depressive disorder in the wives. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done on wives of men diagnosed with Alcohol Use Disorder while attending the outpatient clinic or inpatient treatment at the Psychiatry Department. Consecutive sampling was done till the calculated sample size of 133 was reached. PHQ 9 was administered to the wives to assess Depressive Disorder with a cutoff score of 10. Statistical analysis was done using the Chi-square test. Odds Ratio and confidence intervals were calculated to determine the strength of associations. Results: Prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder in the study population was found to be 27.8%. A significant association was found between the severity of Alcohol Use Disorder and depression in wives (OR=4.01,95%CI=1.4411.22, p<0.01). Morning drinking among husbands was significantly associated with depression in wives(OR=4.32,95%CI=1.32-19.56, p=0.04). Conclusion: Prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder among wives of men with Alcohol Use Disorder was high. Depressive disorder in wives significantly correlated with the severity of Alcohol Use Disorder and the husbands' morning drinking. Hence wives of men with Alcohol Use Disorder should be routinely screened for depression, and necessary interventions should be given promptly.