| Abstract: | Aims: This study aimed to investigate the association between depression and chronic disease and to explore the risk of depression among the chronic disease.
Methods: The subjects were selected from registered permanent residents and aged over 15 years old in Taiwan from 2002 National Survey on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Heath Promotion. Stratified sampling with selection probability proportional to size was used. There were 26,755 subjects analyzed in this survey. The independent variables include personal characters(age, gender, education and job) and chronic diseases(hypertension, hyperlipidemia, heart attack, cerebral stroke, asthma, kidney disease , diabetes and chronic joint pain). Depression symptom was the dependent variable and scored by using Taiwanese Depression Questionnaire. Score of 19 or more was defined as having depression symptoms. Weighted prevalence, by social demographic characters, and response rate, was calculated and used in multivariate logistic regression model.
Results: The prevalence rate of depressive symptoms currently was 7.79%, and among female(4.33%) was significantly higher than male(3.46%). Old age, female gender and unemployment had associated with a higher level of depressive symptoms. Education had no relationship with depressive symptoms. All the chronic diseases were significantly related with the depressive symptoms. Under the chronic disease-depression model, cerebral stroke, cardiac attack, asthma, kidney disease, chronic joint pain and diabetes had the strong prediction of depression. Hypertension and hyperlipidemia had less prediction of depression compared with the above chronic diseases.
Conclusions: Many chronic diseases were related to depression symptoms. When we take care of the patients with above chronic diseases, the depression should be always in consideration. |
