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Prevalence and correlates of depression and substance use disorders in emergency department populations: A cross-sectional study at East Africa's largest public hospital
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Prevalence and correlates of depression and substance use disorders in emergency department populations: A cross-sectional study at East Africa's largest public hospital

Theddeus Iheanacho, Kaitlin R Maciejewski, Frances Ogudebe, Faith Chumo, Tracie Slade, Rebecca Leff and Christine Ngaruiya
African journal of emergency medicine, v 12(4), pp 307-314
01 Dec 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2022.06.008
PMID: 35892005
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2022.06.008View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Open Access (License Unspecified),  Open

Abstract

Substance use disorder Alcohol Depression Emergency department Mental Health Tobacco
There are persistent gaps in screening, identification, and access to care for common mental disorders in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. An initial step towards reducing this gap is identifying the prevalence, co-morbidities, and context of these disorders in different clinical settings and exploring opportunities for intervention. This study evaluates the prevalence and correlates of depression and substance use disorders among adults presenting to the Emergency Department (ED) of a major national hospital in East Africa. This study utilized the World Health Organization's STEPwise Approach to Surveillance (WHO-STEPS) tool and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to conduct a cross-sectional survey capturing socio-demographic data, tobacco, and alcohol use and rates of depression in a sample of adults presenting to the ED. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted for each outcome of interest and socio-demographics. Of 734 respondents, 298 (40.6%) had a PHQ-9 score in the "moderate" to "severe" range indicative of major depressive disorder. About 17% of respondents endorsed current tobacco use while about 30% reported being daily alcohol users. Those with high PHQ-9 score had higher odds of reporting current tobacco use ("severe range" = adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.85, 95% CI 1.05, 3.26). Those with a "severe" PHQ-9 scores were 9 times (aOR 2.3-35.3) more likely to be daily drinkers. Screening and identification of people with depression and substance use disorders in the ED of a large national hospital in Kenya is feasible. This offers an opportunity for brief intervention and referral to further treatment.

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3 Record Views
6 citations in Web of Science
4 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Emergency Medicine
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