Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2019 Jun 27;9(6):e027250.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-027250.

Prevalence and socioeconomic impact of depressive disorders in India: multisite population-based cross-sectional study

Banavaram Anniappan Arvind  1 , Gopalkrishna Gururaj  1 , Santosh Loganathan  2 , Senthil Amudhan  1 , Mathew Varghese  2 , Vivek Benegal  2 , Girish N Rao  1 , Arun Mahadeo Kokane  3 , Chavan B S  4 , Dalal P K  5 , Daya Ram  6 , Kangkan Pathak  7 , Lenin Singh R K  8 , Lokesh Kumar Singh  9 , Pradeep Sharma  10 , Pradeep Kumar Saha  11 , Ramasubramanian C  12 , Ritambhara Y Mehta  13 , Shibukumar T M  14 ; NMHS collaborators group
Collaborators, Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Prevalence and socioeconomic impact of depressive disorders in India: multisite population-based cross-sectional study

Banavaram Anniappan Arvind et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objectives: The National Mental Health Survey (NMHS) of India was undertaken with the objectives of (1) estimating the prevalence and patterns of various mental disorders in representative Indian population and (2) identifying the treatment gap, healthcare utilisation, disabilities and impact of mental disorders. This paper highlights findings pertaining to depressive disorders (DD) from the NMHS.

Design: Multisite population-based cross-sectional study. Subjects were selected by multistage stratified random cluster sampling technique with random selection based on probability proportionate to size at each stage.

Setting: Conducted across 12 states in India (representing varied cultural and geographical diversity), employing uniform, standardised and robust methodology.

Participants: A total of 34 802 adults (>18 years) were interviewed.

Main outcome measure: Prevalence of depressive disorders (ICD-10 DCR) diagnosed using Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview V.6.0.

Results: The weighted prevalence of lifetime and current DD was 5.25% (95% CI: 5.21% to 5.29%, n=34 802) and 2.68% (95% CI: 2.65% to 2.71%, n=34 802), respectively. Prevalence was highest in the 40-59 age groups (3.6%, n=10 302), among females (3.0%, n=18 217) and those residing in cities with population >1 million (5.2%, n=4244). Age, gender, place of residence, education and household income were found to be significantly associated with current DD. Nearly two-thirds of individuals with DD reported disability of varying severity, and the treatment gap for depression in the study population was 79.1%. On an average, households spent INR1500/month (~US$ 23.0/month) towards care of persons affected with DD.

Conclusion: Around 23 million adults would need care for DD in India at any given time. Since productive population is affected most, DD entails considerable socioeconomic impact at individual and family levels. This is a clarion call for all the concerned stakeholders to scale up services under National Mental Health Programme in India along with integrating care for DD with other ongoing national health programmes.

Keywords: India; depressive disorders; disability; national mental health survey; prevalence; socioeconomic impact.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The funders were not actively involved in the research process at any stage. Researchers had the independence from funders and that all authors, external and internal, had full access to all of the data (including statistical reports and tables) in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity and accuracy of the data. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the funding agencies.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence of current DDs among adults (>18 years) in India by age and gender. DD, depressive disorder.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Murray CJ, Barber RM, Foreman KJ, et al. . Global, regional, and national disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 306 diseases and injuries and healthy life expectancy (HALE) for 188 countries, 1990-2013: quantifying the epidemiological transition. Lancet 2015;386:2145–91. 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)61340-X - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. GBD 2015 Disease and Injury Incidence and Prevalence Collaborators. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 310 diseases and injuries, 1990-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. Lancet 2016;388:1545–602. 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31678-6 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Moussavi S, Chatterji S, Verdes E, et al. . Depression, chronic diseases, and decrements in health: results from the World Health Surveys. Lancet 2007;370:851–8. 10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61415-9 - DOI - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization. Depression and other common mental disorders: global health estimates. 2017. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/254610/1/WHO-MSD-MER-2017.2-eng... (Accessed 2017 Oct 5).
    1. Steel Z, Marnane C, Iranpour C, et al. . The global prevalence of common mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis 1980-2013. Int J Epidemiol 2014;43:476–93. 10.1093/ije/dyu038 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources