Prevalence of major depressive disorder in Portoviejo, Ecuador

Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating neuropsychiatric disorder that affects more than 300 million people, causing enormous socioeconomic burden. Little data has been known about prevalence of MDD in Ecuador. Thus, the aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of MDD in the population in a highly populated city in Ecuadorian Coast. This population- based study was accomplished in Portoviejo, Manabí. Here, we analyzed 114.239 records about MDD using Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnosis of DSM-IV Disorders in younger, adults, and older peoples. We observed that the MDD score of 8.6% of the studied population. There was a suitable agreement between mild MDD and residence location scores (urban or rural zone). Both models had a good standard of fit (R2 = 0.91 and 0.95) and a mean p-value of 0.04 for both locations. A significant positive correlation between marital status and MDD scores, particularly for single (p = 0.001361, r = 0.94), and education levels (p = 0.00102, r = 0.95) was also demonstrated. Moreover, both age (p = 0.001067, r = -0.94) and widowed (p = 0.009662, r = -0.87) were negatively correlated with MDD scores. Collectively, our results revealed a high prevalence of MDD in the Portoviejo population, an ef fect more prominent in man, living alone, young and resident of the urban zone.