Abstract
BackgroundPolicing is regarded as a high-risk profession for the development of mental health disturbances owing to various critical incidents and potential traumatic events they encounter. Exploration of mental health problems in policing in Sri Lanka, which recently concluded a civil war expanded over three decades, is a timely, yet, a neglected issue. Hence, the present study was conducted with the aim of determining the prevalence and associated factors of depression among police officers in the Kandy police division, Sri Lanka.MethodsA cross sectional study was conducted using a simple random sample of 750 police officers employed in the Kandy police division, Sri Lanka. A self administered questionnaire, including “Peradeniya Depression Scale” to assess depression, was used to collect data. The prevalence of depression was calculated as point prevalence with 95 % confidence intervals. Multivariable logistic regression was carried out using backward elimination method to quantify the association between depression and selected predictors identified at bivariate analysis at p < 0.10.ResultsA total of 750 Police officers were invited for the study. The response rate was 94.5 % (n = 709). The mean age of the police officers in the sample was 39.6 years (SD 9.2 years). Majority of police officers (n = 591, 83.4 %) were males. The estimated prevalence of depression in the study sample was 22.8 % (95 % CI 19.9–26.1 %). However, the adjusted prevalence of depression was 10.6 % (95 % CI 6.6–15.1 %). In the multivariable analysis, of the postulated occupational factors, satisfactory welfare facilities at work place was negatively associated with depression (adjusted OR 0.5; 95 % CI 0.3–0.7; p = 0.001). Satisfaction of the opportunity to serve the public (adjusted OR 0.2; 95 % CI 0.1–0.6; p = 0.003) and satisfaction related to social status gained in policing (adjusted OR 0.5; 95 % CI 0.3–0.8; p = 0.04) were identified as significant occupational factors that lowered the likelihood of being categorized as having depression.ConclusionsThe prevalence of depression among police officers was found to be higher in comparison to other study findings in Sri Lanka. Given the modifiable nature of the significant predictors, it is recommended to design a package of interventions and implement adaptive measures to rectify the problems related to depression among police officers.
Highlights
Policing is regarded as a high-risk profession for the development of mental health disturbances owing to various critical incidents and potential traumatic events they encounter
The analysis further revealed that opportunity to serve public as a significant predictor (p = 0.003) associated with lower likelihood to have depression
Satisfaction with the opportunity to serve the public and satisfaction related to social status gained in policing were identified as significant occupational factors that lowered the likelihood of being categorized as having depression
Summary
Policing is regarded as a high-risk profession for the development of mental health disturbances owing to various critical incidents and potential traumatic events they encounter. The present study was conducted with the aim of determining the prevalence and associated factors of depression among police officers in the Kandy police division, Sri Lanka. Police officers play an integral part in maintaining the nation’s security, with primary focus on internal security. Their functions, apart from matters connected with the safety, comfort and convenience of the people, Wickramasinghe et al SpringerPlus (2016) 5:1776 scant public gratitude (Chermak et al 2006; Callanan and Rosenberger 2011). In such an environment, they become a highly vulnerable category of human service provision for mental health problems. The greater significance highlighted in many studies, there’s a scarcity in the literature pertaining to depression in policing in the South Asian region
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