BMC Psychiatry (Sep 2023)

Depression and associated factors among Brazilian adults: the 2019 national healthcare population-based study

  • Alexandre Marcelo Hintz,
  • Isaac Suzart Gomes-Filho,
  • Peter Michael Loomer,
  • Paloma de Sousa Pinho,
  • Johelle de Santana Passos-Soares,
  • Soraya Castro Trindade,
  • Eneida de Moraes Marcílio Cerqueira,
  • Claudia Maria Coêlho Alves,
  • Yasmine Silva Santos Rios,
  • Josicélia Estrela Tuy Batista,
  • Ana Claudia Morais Godoy Figueiredo,
  • Simone Seixas da Cruz

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-05133-9
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 23, no. 1
pp. 1 – 15

Abstract

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Abstract Background Mental disorders represent a major public health challenge worldwide, affecting 80% of people living in low- and middle-income countries. Depression, a mental disorder, is a chronic disease of long duration that causes changes in the brain, resulting from a combination of genetic, physiologic, environmental, and behavioral factors. The aim of this study was to investigate possible factors associated with depression in Brazilian adults. Methods A population-based, cross-sectional study was carried out using the public domain database of the 2019 National Health Survey, conducted in Brazil. Depression was considered the dependent variable, and through hierarchical analysis, predictor variables were investigated such as, at the distal level—socioeconomic variables, at the intermediate level—variables related to lifestyle behavior, health condition, and history, and at the proximal level—demographic variables. Logistic regression analysis was used to obtain the adjusted Odds Ratio and the respective 95% confidence interval to identify possible factors associated with depression. Results The study included 88,531 participant records with 10.27% diagnosed with depression. The adjusted association measurements, after selecting the independent variables in the hierarchical analysis, showed the following factors associated with depression with differing magnitudes: age, brown and white race/skin color, female sex, poor, very poor, or regular self-reported health condition, diagnosis of cardiovascular disease, work-related musculoskeletal disorder, history of smoking habit, and macroeconomic region. Conclusions An effective strategy for preventing and managing depression in Brazilian adults must include the control of health status and lifestyle behavior factors, with actions and programs to reduce people's exposure to these factors, understanding that socioeconomic-demographic differences of each population can potentially reduce the disease burden.

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