Depression among tuberculosis patients attending a DOTS centre in a rural area of Delhi: A cross-sectional study

Studies have shown that the prevalence of psychiatric disorders, particularly depression, is high among tuberculosis (TB) patients, and may adversely affect treatment compliance. A person suffering from TB can develop depression in due course of time owing to a number of factors, namely the long duration of treatment for TB, stigmatization faced by the patient due to the disease and lack of family support to name a few.

The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of depression and its correlates among TB patients enrolled at a Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS) center in a rural area of Delhi.

The study was a DOTS center-based, cross-sectional study, among 106 patients of pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB, above 18 years of age. An interviewer-administered questionnaire in Hindi was used to collect basic sociodemographic data and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9 was used for detecting depression. Those with a score of 10 or more were considered to be suffering from depression. Data analysis was done using SPSS licensed version 20. Chi-square was used to test for association between qualitative variables, and a P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

A total of 106 patients participated in the study, of which 61 (57.5%) were males. The median age was 30 years (inter-quartile range 24-40 years). Depression was found to be present in 25 (23.6%) participants. A higher proportion of patients with depression were unemployed currently, and also belonged to middle or lower class (P < 0.05). Depression was not found to be associated with religion, gender, marital status, HIV status, presence of diabetes, DOTS category nor with the phase of treatment.

Depression among TB patients is common, affecting almost one in four TB patients. Physicians and DOTS providers should have a high index of suspicion for depression when assessing TB patients.