Prevalence of depression among a population aged over 45 years in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of depression in Thai people of 45 years and over.


METHODS
The presented project was a cross sectional study on the prevalence of depression and cognitive impairment in Chiang Mai. Door-to-door interview technique was assigned in condition with multistage probability random sampling to obtain subjects that represent a population of Chiang Mai. The research was conducted between October 2004 and September 2005. Data were collected on subject that were 45 years old and over. All subjects were selected from all districts in Chiang Mai. Thai Mini Mental State Examination (TMSE) and Thai Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were used as the assessment tool If the subjects had a TMSE score less than 24 points, it was assumed as a cognitive impairment.


RESULTS
One thousand four hundred ninety two people, 610 males and 882 females, were enrolled in the present study. Their mean age was 59.7 +/- 10.4 years (45-88 year). The prevalence of depression only was 29.2%, the prevalence of cognitive impairment only was 5.63% and the prevalence of cognitive impairment with depression was 3.96%. The prevalence of depression increased with age.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of depression in Thai people of 45 years and over was 29.2% and increased with age.
Wangtongkum
Suparus
S
Chiang Mai Neurological Hospital, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand. wsuparus@hotmail.com
Sucharitakul
Phongsakorn
P
Wongjaroen
Sriwanna
S
Maneechompoo
Suthin
S
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003071:Cognition; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology