Abstract

Objectives: Depression is a public health problem occurring globally and is often missed in clinical setting. Depression and diabetes are common conditions in primary care setting and they commonly co-occur. The cooccurrence of these two conditions can complicate diabetes outcome. The study aimed at determining whether the patient health questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) will be able to screen for depression in patient with diabetes in Malawi they way it is supposed to measure it. Methods:The study was conducted in two non communicable diseases (NCD) clinics in Lilongwe district in Malawi from December 2017 till April 2018. A total of 323 patients with diabetes were screened with the PHQ-9 and later underwent diagnostic interview. Results: Two-fifth of the patients with diabetes suffered from either minor or major depression. Conclusions: The PHQ-9 was found to be a useful screening tool in NCD clinics in Malawi as it was able to measure depression the way it was supposed to measure and should be considered by clinicians.

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