Study of depression among children in a tertiary care hospital - outpatient and inpatient cases

Keerthy Kurian; Shyam Sudhir M.K; Prakash.R.M. Saldanha

Volume : VIII, Issue : III, March - 2018

Study of depression among children in a tertiary care hospital - outpatient and inpatient cases

Keerthy Kurian, Shyam Sudhir M. K, Prakash. R. M. Saldanha

Abstract :

Background:

Depression is a debilitating disease which is caused by social and environmental factors in addition to genetic factors¹. Just 40 years ago, many physicians doubted the existence of significant depressive disorders in children. However, a growing body of evidence has confirmed that children and adolescents not only experience the whole spectrum of mood disorders but also suffer from the significant morbidity and mortality associated with them⁴.

It is very important to prevent the ill effects of depression on one‘s educational attainment and career through early detection and proper interventional measures³.

Depression, the most common mental disorder which accounts for 9.7% years lived with disability in the 2010 Global Burden of Disease study^4,5. Depression related disability, compounded by lack of access to care impacts on the social and physical health. Depression can affect the socialization, family relations, and performance at school of children and adolescents, often with potentially serious long–term consequences.

Prevalence estimates of depression in India have varied widely depending on the assessment tools used and the community’s socio–demographic profile^4,6,7. Robust evidence from India and other low and middle income countries links socioeconomic deprivation with increased risk of depression^4,8,9. Other groups shown to be at higher risk for depression in India are women, the elderly, urban dwellers and people who are divorced or widowed ^10,11,12.

People with depression in India report distress primarily as unexplained somatic symptoms, and usually seek help from primary care rather than specialist mental healthcare providers⁴.

There is an urgent need to understand the burden of disease in children and adolescents. Simultaneously, ongoing reflection is needed about when mental distress becomes a disorder because untreated depression can cause long term consequences⁴.

Materials and Methods: This was a cross–sectional questionnaire study conducted on 80 children above 10 years of age. Children were assessed using the standard Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) used for screening depression. Data was then analyzed using SPSS software.

Results: The results showed that majority of the children had no depression and out of those children with depression (12.5%), majority (10%) had mild degree of depression. No children in our study had severe or profound depression.

Conclusion: Depression is a major problem in this developing era. Hence children should be routinely screened and assessed since it can cause long term consequences if not diagnosed and treated appropriately.