Prevalence, correlates and recognition of depression among inpatients of general hospitals in Wuhan, China

Objective: To determine the prevalence, correlates and recognition of depression among inpatients of general hospitals in Wuhan, China.

Method: A total of 513 patients were randomly selected from 1923 inpatients from three general hospitals and evaluated with a Chinese version of the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV Axis I disorders by eight psychiatrists. Logistic regression was used to identify factors that were associated with depression.

Results: The prevalence (95% confidence interval) of all current depressive disorders and major depressive disorder (MDD) was found to be 16.2% (13.0-19.4%) and 9.4% (6.8-11.9%), respectively. The correlates for depression include higher hospital class, divorce/being widowed/separation, low family income, chronic diseases, lack of medical insurance, dwelling in rural area, suffering from severe illness and multiple hospitalization history. None of the patients with current MDD were detected, treated or referred to psychiatric consultation.

Conclusions: The prevalence of depression among inpatients of general hospitals in Wuhan, China, was high. None of the depressive patients were recognized or treated for depression, indicating a serious neglect of depression in general hospitals. Our studies suggest an urgent need to improve clinicians' ability to detect and treat depression.