Prevalence and Factors Associated with Depression in School-Going Adolescents of India

Background: Various studies on the prevalence and the factors associated with depression among the adolescents have indicated that the individuals known to suffer from depression in any form have increased suicidal tendencies and are also associated with poor academic performance. In this article, a review of literature has been done to provide evidence regarding the magnitude and factors of depression among school-going adolescents.Methods: The review of literature was done using various sites online such as PubMed and Google Scholar, and various papers from different journals have been searched to find the relevant articles that provide information on magnitude of depression and its associated factors. Various scales such as Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Beck’s Depression Inventory-21 (BDI-21) were used to measure depression and identify its contributing factors including the socio-demographic factors.Results: Depression has been found to range between 18 and 50% among various study populations. The prevalence was high among those study groups who were having both parents working, poor relationship with family members and poor academic performance.Conclusion: A large proportion of the adolescent population who suffers from depression goes unrecognized either due to poor understanding of the various factors associated with it or due to less efficient screening and treatment opportunities. Therefore, a clear understanding of the various factors is must to identify depression in its earlier course and suitable treatment options to be provided along with the follow-up care

Depression among tuberculosis patients attending a DOTS centre in a rural area of Delhi: A cross-sectional study

Background: Studies have shown that the prevalence of psychiatric disorders, particularly depression, is high among tuberculosis (TB) patients, and may adversely affect treatment compliance. A person suffering from TB can develop depression in due course of time owing to a number of factors, namely the long duration of treatment for TB, stigmatization faced by the patient due to the disease and lack of family support to name a few. Objectives: The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of depression and its correlates among TB patients enrolled at a Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS) center in a rural area of Delhi. Methods: The study was a DOTS center-based, cross-sectional study, among 106 patients of pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB, above 18 years of age. An interviewer-administered questionnaire in Hindi was used to collect basic sociodemographic data and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9 was used for detecting depression. Those with a score of 10 or more were considered to be suffering from depression. Data analysis was done using SPSS licensed version 20. Chi-square was used to test for association between qualitative variables, and a P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 106 patients participated in the study, of which 61 (57.5%) were males. The median age was 30 years (inter-quartile range 24–40 years). Depression was found to be present in 25 (23.6%) participants. A higher proportion of patients with depression were unemployed currently, and also belonged to middle or lower class (P < 0.05). Depression was not found to be associated with religion, gender, marital status, HIV status, presence of diabetes, DOTS category nor with the phase of treatment. Conclusion: Depression among TB patients is common, affecting almost one in four TB patients. Physicians and DOTS providers should have a high index of suspicion for depression when assessing TB patients

Effect of Training on Perception and Knowledge of Teachers towards common Adolescent health Problems in a School of Bangalore

Introduction: Involvement of teachers is the first and most crucial step in developing health care strategy for the adolescents, however there is paucity of literature in India.Objective: To assess the effect of training on perception and knowledge of the school teachers towards the common health problems among adolescents.Material & methods: An intervention study was conducted in a private school of rural Bangalore in November 2015. A pre-tested open-ended questionnaire containing questions regarding the socio- demographicprofile of the teachers and common adolescent health problems was administered to the study subjects before and after one-day workshop for the teachers. Training workshop included sessions on adolescenthealth issues particularly mental health and life skills. Data was entered in MS-Excel and analyzed with the help of SPSS version 21.Results: A total of 75 teachers participated and their age was 31.07 years. 25 (33%) of them had obtained education till B.Ed. Majority (60; 80%) of teachers were Hindu by religion. After the training perception of the teachers about adolescent health problems improved significantly. 99% of teachers were able to recall common adolescent mental issues particularly depression, anxiety and body image perception disorders after the training. Knowledge scores of the teachers regarding the common adolescent problems for boththe genders increased significantly (p <0.05).Conclusion: Training about life skills and on identifying the symptoms related to the common mentaldisorders should be provided to the teachers on a regular basis