Depression is Associated with the Increase Risk of Multimorbidity Among the General Population in Indonesia

Depression is common among patients with chronic disease. However, little is known about the association between depression and the risk of developing multimorbidity. This study aims to identify the association between depression and the incidence of multimorbidity among the general population in Indonesia.

The national cross-sectional population-based survey used publicly available data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS-5) for 2014 among respondents aged ≥15 years. Depression was assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale. The number of chronic diseases and amount of sociodemographic information were obtained from self-reported data. A logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between depression and multimorbidity, adjusting for confounders. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were reported.

The study recruited 2222 respondents; the majority of them were male (68.0%) and aged 55-64 years (34.7%). Of the total number of respondents, 69.6% have depression and 36.5% have multimorbidity. The prevalence of depression in respondents increases with age. Depressive symptoms were more likely to report multimorbidity (OR 2.05, 95% CI: 1.66-2.52).

Depression is associated with the increased risk of multimorbidity among the general population in Indonesia. Therefore, screening for and treatment of depression for those at risk of developing multimorbidity are urgently needed.