Journal of Depression and Anxiety
Open Access

Abstract

Mental Health Reflections and Self-Rating at Population Contexts and Paradigms

Hamid Yahya Hussain, Fouad Hussein Chehab, Mohammed Tuffaha, Katrina Aguilar and Nezar Ahmed Salim*

Background: Depression is a major source of distress and can have a profound impact on the quality of life and consider leading cause of death and morbidity. Early treatment and identification of depression reduces the burden on caregivers and family member along with medical costs. About 3% of the global population proved to be affected by depressive disorders currently according to global statistics. People are most likely to develop their first depressive episode between the age of 30-40. There is a second, smaller peak of incidence between age of 50-60 years. Objectives: The main goal of this study is to determine the prevalence of depression in people living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Research Methodology: Community based-study was conducted in 2019 with the use of a cross-sectional, multistage, stratified, cluster random sample. Families were visited and interviewed at their homes. Data was collected by adapted tool from the World Health Survey and developed by WHO. 2532 families were interviewed by approximately 100 well trained data collectors 25 nurses.

Results: The present study showed that the prevalence of depressive disorder among Adults aged 18 and above was 2.1%. This fluctuates between 2.3% for females and 2% for males. The estimated number of adults who were affected by depressive disorder was 54,733 who age 18 years and above. Out of all clients having depressive disorder, only 19% were diagnosed. While approximately 81% did not realize that they were suffering from a depressive disorder. The results show the depression prevalence was 4.7% for local clients compared to 2% for non-local clients.

Conclusion: Depression tends to adversely impact individual’s quality of life. Males are less likely to suffer from depression than females and UAE nationals more than expatriate. Depressive disorders among Dubai population is not uncommon, in spite of revealing the lowest level of global depressive rating, it does reflect significant public health implications which necessitate effective containment strategies.

Published Date: 2020-09-15; Received Date: 2020-07-31