Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms among Incognizant Patients Visiting a Hospital

Abstract

This article depicts about depressive symptoms among patients visiting a hospital. Depression is the most common mental illness among people in many parts of the world. A person who suffers from depression experiences many symptoms which affects their day to day life to study the contributing factors associated with various levels of depression, a survey was conducted among patients visiting a private dental college at Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Convenience sampling technique was used for the survey. The patients were categorised according to their age, gender, education and employment status. Socio-economic status of the family head was also assessed in the survey. Marital status of an individual and any medical problems presented was also interviewed in the questionnaire. A list of PHQ-9 questionnaire was used to assess the associating factors among various level of depression.