The Validation of Beck's Depression Inventory in Patients With Systemic Diseases: A Psychometric Study at a Dental Institute

Abstract

Background Depression seriously threatens the world's public health, manifesting symptoms like loss of interest, fatigue, guilt, and impaired focus. Major depressive disorder is a common problem for those with chronic systemic illnesses. Since this illness has an impact on psychosocial well-being and interacts with anxiety and stress, it is crucial to assess psychological functioning. Depression-related issue has a negative impact on oral health and can cause cognitive dysfunction, social interaction problems, and low self-esteem. For the purpose of identifying and effectively managing depression in patients with systemic illnesses undergoing dental procedures, screening tools like the Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI) were used. The BDI's benefits include its strong internal consistency, sensitivity to change, broad concept validity, adaptable criteria validity for separating depressed and nondepressed people, and global dissemination. Materials and methods A cross-sectional prospective study was carried out after receiving the necessary institutional ethical approvals, and the participant's agreement was also obtained. The questionnaire was explained to the patients. The entire participation was voluntary. Results In the current study patient's ages ranged from 34 years to maximum age of 83 years with a mean age of 59.70±13.16 years, with 40% of the population falling into the 51-65 years age group. According to the results, participants who had multiple systemic disorders were more likely to experience depression than people who had one systemic illness. The chi-square test showed no statistically significant results between the depression scores and the number of systemic diseases (p-0.574). Seventy-five per cent of individuals with depression required tooth extractions. Conclusion Those with systemic disorders who were receiving dental care in the current study showed elevated levels of depression. An important finding was the correlation between depression and tooth extraction, highlighting the need for proactive mental health assessments in dental care. Tailored interventions can mitigate the impact, enhancing the holistic well-being of patients suffering from systemic diseases and depression.

Keywords: depression; psychiatry and mental health; screening tools; special care dentistry; systemic diseases.

Figure 1. Scores indicating the levels of depression

The figure depicts the categorization of depression levels based on the Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI) questionnaire scores. A score of 1-10 denotes normal mood, 11-16 mild, 17-20 moderate depression, 31-40 severe and more than 40 indicating extreme level of depression.

Figure 2. The figure depicts the overall distribution of gender among the study participants with the tendency for male predisposition (65%).

Figure 3. The figure shows the distribution of age with the majority of patients falling under the age group of 51-65 years.

Figure 4. The figure depicts the existence of various systemic diseases among the study participants, where rheumatoid arthritis was the most prevalent, followed by hypertension, coronary artery disease and diabetes.

Figure 5. The figure illustrates depression among the Indian population according to the National Mental Health Survey of India 2015-2016.

A darker shade of blue indicates a higher prevalence whereas a lighter shade denotes a decreased prevalence. Ref: [13] Image Courtesy: Visalachi MR, Roland Prethipa P