Depressive symptoms associated with COVID-19 preventive practice measures, daily activities in home quarantine and suicidal behaviors: findings from a large-scale online survey in Bangladesh

Background: The world is facing a public health emergency situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychological wellbeing among individuals worldwide has been negatively affected by the pandemic especially in low- and middle-income countries such as Bangladesh. The present study aimed to assess the estimate of depressive symptoms and investigated its associations with COVID-19 preventive practice measures, daily activities in home quarantine, and suicidal behaviors in a large-scale Bangladeshi online survey. Methods: An online-based cross-sectional survey was widely distributed to Bangladeshi citizens. A total of 13,654 participants (61.0% male; mean age = 24.0 years [SD = 6.0]; age range 18–65 years) completed the survey between May and June (2020). The survey included socio-demographics and COVID-19-related questions, along with lifestyle, suicidal, and psychometric measures. Hierarchical regression was performed to determine significant associations between depression and examined variables. Results: The estimate of depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic was 43.5%. Based on hierarchical regression analysis, depression was significantly associated with not engaging in COVID-19 preventive measures, daily activities in home quarantine (e.g., playing videogames), and suicidal behaviors. Conclusions: Depressive symptoms appeared to be high during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. To fight against the pandemic, mental health issues as well as physical health issues need to be taken into consideration

Recall of recent and more remote depressive episodes in a prospective cohort study

This is a late draft of a paper archived here to fulfill requirements of the funding agency.Background: In psychiatric epidemiology, symptoms are often assessed retrospectively. This raises concerns about the accuracy of the information recalled. In this study, we sought to examine the level of agreement between survey items assessing recent and more remote depressive episodes. Methods: Data from the Canadian National Population Health Survey (NPHS) were used. The NPHS is a prospective study following a representative cohort of household residents sampled in 1994 and 1995. Every two years, participants are administered the Composite International Diagnostic Interview Short Form for Major Depression (CIDI-SFMD). The 2004 NPHS interview also included items asking about past episodes of depression and diagnoses of depression made by health professionals. We used cross-tabulation and logistic regression to explore the relationship between these responses. Results: Approximately 90% of respondents with CIDI-SFMD-defined major depressive episodes in the year preceding the 2004 interview also reported lifetime episodes or professional diagnoses of depression in 2004. However, responses to the 2004 lifetime items corresponded less closely to CIDI-SFMD results from the same individuals earlier in the longitudinal survey. Only 40.8% of respondents having a most recently identified episode in 1994 subsequently affirmed an episode of depression in 2004. Conclusions: Reporting of depressive episodes diminishes with time, suggesting that retrospective assessment of such episodes may be vulnerable to considerable inaccuracy.CIHRYesCanadian Institutes of Health Researc