Sociodemographic, behavioral, and health-related risk factors for depression among men and women in a southern Brazilian city

Objective: To assess the prevalence of depression and sociodemographic, behavioral, and health-related risk factors therefor in a southern Brazilian city. Methods: Population-based, cross-sectional study of adults from Rio Grande, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Individuals (n=1,295) were selected using a multistage sampling procedure. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to screen for major depressive episodes (MDEs). We used a conceptual causal framework to organize and assess risk factors for MDE and calculated prevalence ratios (PR) using regression models. Results: The prevalence of MDE was 8.4% (95%CI 6.0-10.7) for men and 13.4% (95%CI 11.0-15.8) for women. For men, physical inactivity (PR 2.34, 95%CI 1.09-5.00) and perceived stress (PR 20.35, 95%CI 5.92-69.96) were associated with MDE. In women, MDE prevalence was higher among those in the first tertile of economic index (PR 2.61, 95%CI 1.53-4.45), with 0-8 years of schooling (PR 2.25, 95%CI 1.24-4.11), alcohol users (PR 1.91, 95%CI 1.21-3.02), those physically inactive (PR 2.49, 95%CI 1.22-5.09), with the highest perceived stress (PR 9.17, 95%CI 3.47-24.23), with another mental disorder (PR 1.85, 95%CI 1.32-2.59), and with more noncommunicable diseases (PR 1.85, 95%CI 1.06-3.22). Conclusion: Women had a higher prevalence of depression, and socioeconomic disadvantages were important for the occurrence of MDE; however, for men, only physical inactivity and stress were important predictors, suggesting possible different causal pathways for each sex.

Contextual risk factors of depression and suicidal thoughts in Brazilian adults: a multilevel analysis

Objective: To evaluate the association between social and health contextual variables, and between major depressive episodes (MDE) and suicidal thoughts in Brazilian adults. Methods: This population-based cross-sectional study used data from the 2013 National Health Survey (Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde). The Patient Health Questionnaire was used to evaluate the presence of MDE and suicidal thoughts. We used number of Family Health Strategy teams (FHS) per 20,000 state population, number of Psychosocial Care Centers (Centros de Atenção Psicossocial [CAPS]) per 1,000 state population, gross domestic product (GDP), and Gini index for each Brazilian state as contextual variables. Multilevel logistic regression models were used to calculate OR and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: Prevalence of MDE and suicidal thoughts was 4.1% (95%CI 3.8-4.4) and 3.8% (95%CI 3.5-4.1), respectively. Multilevel regression models showed an ICC of 1.1% for MDE (95%CI 0.5-2.3) and 1.3% for suicidal thoughts (95%CI 0.6-2.6). Neither GDP, Gini, FHS, or CAPS showed evidence of association with the outcomes. Conclusions: In general, contextual variables, within each Brazilian state, do not seem to affect the prevalence of MDE and suicidal thoughts.