Prevalence of major depression and associated correlates in Latvian primary care population results from the National Research Program BIOMEDICINE 2014–2017

Elmars Rancans (Corresponding Author), Jelena Vrublevska, Anda Kivite-Urtane, Rolands Ivanovs, Douglas Ziedonis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Purpose and aim. In Latvia, the 12-month prevalence of depression in the general population has been estimated at 7.9%, but the data of the National Health Service show that general practitioners (GP's) saw only 3514 unique patients with a diagnosis of mood disorders in 2014. This is the first study conducted at the national level that was aimed to estimate the point and lifetime prevalence of depression and associated factors in primary care settings in Latvia. Materials and methods. This study was conducted at 24 primary care facilities in 2015. During a 1-week period, all consecutive adult patients were invited to complete the study questionnaires. Within a period of 2 weeks, the respondents were interviewed over the phone using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.), Version 6.0.0. A hierarchical multivariate data analysis was performed. Results. The study population consisted of 1485 patients. According to the M.I.N.I., 28.1% (95% CI 25.9–30.4) of the patients had at least one depressive episode in the past, and 10.2% (95% CI 8.7–11.8) had current depression. In the final multivariate analysis model, current major depression was associated with the female gender (OR 2.01), basic or unfinished basic education (OR 1.86), loss of marital ties (OR 1.86), and gastrointestinal (OR 3.46) and oncological (OR 2.26) diseases as a reason for visiting the GP. Conclusions. The prevalence of major depression in primary care is consistent with that in other European countries but is significantly underdiagnosed. Enhanced training in Latvian primary care settings may improve clinical outcomes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)60-68
Number of pages9
JournalNordic Journal of Psychiatry
Volume74
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Jan 2020

Keywords*

  • Depression
  • prevalence
  • primary health care
  • sociodemographic status

Field of Science*

  • 3.2 Clinical medicine
  • 3.3 Health sciences

Publication Type*

  • 1.1. Scientific article indexed in Web of Science and/or Scopus database

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