Depression, anxiety, and stress among Indian urban affluent adults

Abstract

Introduction: Mental health disorders now have a major share in the global burden of diseases. Regular screening of populations is crucial for timely detection and prevention. A lot of attention has been rendered to the assessment of depression, anxiety, and stress using Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) among school- or college-going population. However, assessments among adults are limited. Methodology: Urban, affluent, 30-45-year-old apparently healthy adults (n = 218; both males and females) were enrolled from preventive health check programs of private hospitals in the National Capital Region, Delhi, India. The DASS-21 item questionnaire was administered as a part of cross-sectional data collection after obtaining written informed consent. Scores were computed as per the DASS-21 manual, and their correlations with probable demographic, dietary, lifestyle, anthropometric, and biophysical factors were explored. Results: Mild to moderate levels of depression anxiety and stress were observed among 22.1%, 23% and 15.2% respectively and severe or extremely severe levels were observed among 5.1%, 8.7% and 7.3% participants respectively. No meaningful correlations were observed with demographic, dietary, lifestyle, anthropometric, and biophysical factors in this population. Conclusion: The incidence of these factors in an apparently healthy and productive population highlights the importance of regular screening for timely detection and designing clinical preventive strategies. Also, further research is needed to ascertain if the DASS scores have any probable relationship with demographic dietary, lifestyle, anthropometric and biophysical factors such as those assessed in this study.