Sociodemographic factors and the prevalence of depression among patients at Rumuigbo Psychiatric Hospital, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area

Abstract

This study investigated the prevalence of depression and socio-demographic determinants among patients attending psychiatric hospitals, Rumuigbo, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area. The study was guided by six objectives, six research questions and five hypotheses. Literature was reviewed under conceptual framework, theoretical framework and empirical review. The research design adopted for this study was descriptive. The population consisted of all 141 depression cases recorded from 2018 to 2021 based on the Psychiatric Hospital Record. All the cases were included in the study. The instrument for data collection in this study was a proforma. The data analysis was done with the aid of the Statistical Product for Service Solution (SPSS) version 23.0. To analyze the data collected, the researcher adopted descriptive statistics of percentage to answer research questions and inferential statistics of Chi-square at 0.05 alpha level. The result showed that the prevalence of depression among patients attending psychiatric hospitals, in Rumuigbo, was high (97.9%). Depression was more among those aged 15-24 years 29(100), females 81(98.8%), those divorced 1(100), civil servants 33(100) and students 44(100), and patients who had tertiary education 64(100) and secondary education 72(97.3) respectively. The tested hypotheses revealed a significant relationship between the prevalence of depression among patients and demographic factors such as marital status (χ2-value = 14.35, df = 4, p<0.05), occupation (χ2-value = 59.73, df = 4, p<0.05) and educational level (χ2-value = 15.53, df = 2, p<0.05). Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that the prevalence of depression among patients attending psychiatric hospitals, in Rumuigbo, was high (97.9%) and the socio-demographic determinants were marital status, occupation, and educational level. Recommendation made among others was that health care planners should pay attention to socio-demographic factors of patients when planning and designing health programmes for them as this will enhance the better management of depression among patients.