Major depressive disorder in Chinese persons with speech disability: High rates of prevalence and perceived need for mental health care but extremely low rate of use of mental health services

Abstract

Background: In recent years, there has been increasing awareness on the importance of mental health services for persons with disability in China, but data on mental health of persons with speech disability (PwSD) are scarce. This study examined prevalence and correlates of major depressive disorder (MDD) among Chinese PwSD, as well as their perceived need for and utilization of mental health services. MethodsA total of 227 community-residing adult PwSD were successfully recruited by using multi-stage sampling approach, and interviewed with the Mini-international Neuropsychiatric Interview 5.0. Depressed PwSD's perceived need for and utilization of mental health services were also measured. Results29.5% of the PwSD suffered from MDD during the month before the interview and, of the depressed PwSD, 44.8% perceived a need for mental health care but only 1.5% had sought help from mental health specialists. Factors significantly associated with MDD included female gender (OR=2.42), marital status of “non-married” (OR=2.27), having the disability during childhood (OR=4.60) and adulthood (OR=10.99) (vs. at birth), co-occurring other types of disabilities (OR=2.29), major medical conditions (OR=2.62), and impaired ability of activities of daily living (OR=3.23). LimitationsFindings can only be generalized to PwSD who register with the Disabled People's Federation (DPF) in China, because the sampling frame was based on the registration system of DPF. ConclusionsThere is a large unmet need for mental health services among Chinese PwSD. It is urgently needed to integrate the management of MDD and other common mental disorders into the services system for PwSD in China.