Abstract

There has been an increasing interest in mental health at the primary care level. This is because globally, mental illnesses are major contributors to the burden of diseases. It is on this premise that this study aimed at determining the prevalence and epidemiology of depression among adult patients assessing care in a primary care setting in the north central region of Nigeria was conceptualized. The study was a descriptive hospital based cross-sectional study in which data was collected from 425 adult patients attending the family medicine clinics of university of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Ilorin, Nigeria between June and August 2016. Interviewer administered questionnaires were used for data collection. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were used to screen the respondents for depression. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21(SPSS-21). The prevalence of depression found in this study was 24.9%. Age was the only Socio-demographic factor that was found to have a statistically significant association with depression (p=0.045). In conclusion, depression was found to be common in the Family Medicine Clinics UITH. Primary care providers should have a high index of suspicion in the diagnosis and management of depression.

Keywords: Depression; Primary; Care; Nigeria