Depressive disorder screening and related factors in Çukurova University Family Medicine Outpatient Clinics

Introduction: Depressive disorder is an important health problem that was frequently encountered in primary care. In this study, it was aimed to determine the frequency of depressive disorder, preferences on access to mental health services, beliefs and attitudes towards mental illnesses in the Family Medicine Outpatient Clinics in our university. Material and Method: Sociodemographic information form, Patient Health Questionnaire-2 and 9 and Belief Scale for Mental Illness were applied to the patients by simple random sampling who were admitted to Çukurova University Family Medicine Outpatient Clinics between 01.02.2019-15.03.2019 and agreed to participate in the study. Patients with depressive symptoms were interviewed according to DSM-5 Structured Clinical Interview inventory. Results: In our study, 69.9 % (n=211) of the participants (n=302) were women and 83.1 % (n=251) were students. According to the results of the PHQ-2 and PHQ-9 test, depressive disorder was considered in 17.2 % (n=52) and 15.2 % (n=46) of the participants, respectively. PHQ-9 scores of the students were higher than the staff (9.88±5.1, 7.8±4.4, p=0.007). Among the structured clinical interviews (n=62), 32.6 % (n=20) had diagnosed as major and 11.3 % (n=7) as undefined depressive disorder. In our sample, the percentage of the depressive disorder was 8.9%, major depressive disorder was 6.6 %, and all of them were students. PHQ-9 scores were higher in the 20-24-age group, singles, and those with a frequency of physician admission ≥5 per year and had a lower education level (respectively, p=0.003, p=0.001, p=0.005, p=0.017). The application preferences to unprofessional for mental health necessities were higher in the 18-19 age group, singles, and participants with lower education (respectively, 54.5 %, p=0.001, 96.4 %, p=0.038, 20.1 %, p=0.052). According to the Belief Scale for Mental Illness first-year students of the university had a more negative dangerous attitude than the other classes and the helplessness attitude of the university staff was more negative than the other participants (p=0.001, p=0.043). Conclusion: The prevalence of depressive disorder among the applicants of Family Medicine Outpatient Clinics of our University was found to be similar to that in the whole country. It was noteworthy that all of the diagnosed ones were students and the tendency to seeking unprofessional help for mental health needs was frequent. Besides, in terms of beliefs about mental illnesses, especially the dangerousness attitude of the students and the helplessness attitude of the staff came to the fore. There is a need to increase the effectiveness of preventive and therapeutic services in terms of depressive disorder, especially for university students. In this context, education programs can also be planned for students and staffs to provide accurate information about mental health. Key words: Depressive disorder, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, student, belief, attitude