Detection of depression among patients with problematic alcohol use in General Out Patient setting

Abstract

Background: The nature of the relationship between depression and alcohol use is of interest to mental health professionals. Failure to detect such disorders in the hospital settings denies them access to adequate treatment. This study therefore, aimed to assess the presence of depression in patients with problematic alcohol use presenting at the General Out-patient clinic and the ability of the physicians to detect such disorders. Methods: It was a cross-sectional descriptive study. Consecutive and voluntarily consenting patients attending the clinic over a period of eight weeks were recruited and administered the alcohol section of the patient health questionnaire. Those that met criteria for problematic alcohol use were then screened for depression using the depression section of the patient health questionnaire. Results: Two hundred and nine (31.1%) out of 672 that were recruited into the study met the criteria for problematic alcohol use. Sixty-five (31.1%) of them screened positive for depression. Female gender (p=0.000), unemployment (p=0.002) and been married (p=0.027) tend to be associated with depression. Physicians were only able to make diagnosis relating to psychopathology in 19.1% of the participants. Conclusion: There is a need for screening for co-morbidity of depression with alcohol by primary care physicians in General Outpatient Units due to high rate of patients with such problems. Such screening will help in early intervention and consequent treatment.