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Poverty, life events and the risk for depression in Uganda

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Abstract

Background

Understanding the determinants of major depression in sub-Saharan Africa is important for planning effective intervention strategies.

Objective

To investigate the social and life-event determinants of major depressive disorder in the African sociocultural context of rural Uganda.

Methods

A cross-section survey was carried out in 14 districts in Uganda from 1 June 2003 to 30 October 2004. 4,660 randomly selected respondents (15 years and above) were interviewed. The primary outcome was the presence of ‘probable major depressive disorder’ (PMDD) as assessed by the Hopkins symptom checklist.

Results

The prevalence of PMDD was 29.3% (95% confidence interval, 28.0–30.6%). Factors independently associated with depression in both genders included: the ecological factor, district; age (increase with each age category after 35 years); indices of poverty and deprivation (no formal education, having no employment, broken family, and socioeconomic classes III–V). Only a few adverse life events, notably those suggestive of a disrupted family background (death of a father in females and death of a mother in males) were associated with increased risk.

Conclusion

Socioeconomic and sociodemographic factors, operating at both ecological and the individual level are the strongest independent determinants of depression. Adverse life events were less strongly associated with depression in this sample.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC/UVRI Uganda Research Unit on AIDS, Entebbe, Uganda

    Eugene Kinyanda & Patrick Woodburn

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

    Joshua Tugumisirize

  3. Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Kampala, Uganda

    Johnson Kagugube

  4. Mental Health Division, Ministry of Health, Kampala, Uganda

    Sheila Ndyanabangi

  5. London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Goa, 403521, India

    Vikram Patel

Authors
  1. Eugene Kinyanda
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  2. Patrick Woodburn
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  3. Joshua Tugumisirize
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  4. Johnson Kagugube
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  5. Sheila Ndyanabangi
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  6. Vikram Patel
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Correspondence to Eugene Kinyanda.

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Kinyanda, E., Woodburn, P., Tugumisirize, J. et al. Poverty, life events and the risk for depression in Uganda. Soc Psychiat Epidemiol 46, 35–44 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-009-0164-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-009-0164-8

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