[Depression among the general population in Iran: Iranian health perception survey]

Objective[s): To collect data on self-reported depression among the general population in Iran and indicate its contributing factors

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Methods: This was a nationwide cross sectional study. A random sample of individuals aged between 18 and 65 years were entered into the study. Respondents were asked to rate their anxiety on a 5-point scale. The record of demographic and socioeconomic data included age, gender, education, marital status, employment, income, self-reported health and chronic diseases. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate odds ratios for contributing factors to self-reported depression

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Results: In all 27,883 individuals took part in the study. The mean age of respondents was 32.7 [SD = 11.8) years. Overall 8.6% reported that they were very or very much depressed. The results obtained from logistic regression analysis showed that divorced [OR= 2.46] and wife dead [OR= 1.77], unemployed [OR= 1.45], lower income groups [OR =1.65], those with lower self-reported health [OR for lowest group=7.27], and having at least one chronic disease [OR=1.58], were more likely to suffer from depression

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Conclusion: The findings indicated that there were inverse relationships between depression, marital status, income and self-reported health