Prevalence of self-reported lifetime medical diagnosis of depression in Brazil : analysis of data from the 2019 Brazilian National Health Survey

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of and factors associated with the lifetime medical diagnosis of depression in Brazil. Design: Population-based, cross-sectional study. Setting: Analysis of data from the 2019 Brazilian National Health Survey. Participants: 90 846 individuals aged ≥15 years were included. Outcome measure: The self-reported medical diagnosis of depression at some point in one’s life was the main outcome. Prevalence ratios (PRs) with 95% CIs were calculated by Poisson regression with robust variance. The independent variables included the geographical area of residence, sociodemographic characteristics, current smoking status, alcohol abuse, daily screen time, and the presence of physical disorders and mental health comorbidities. Results: The self-reported lifetime prevalence of medical diagnosis of depression was 9.9% (95% CI 9.5% to 10.2%). The probability of having received a medical diagnosis of depression was higher among urban residents (PR 1.23; 95% CI 1.12 to 1.35); females (2.75; 2.52 to 2.99); those aged 20–29 years (1.17; 0.91 to 1.51), 30–39 years (1.73; 1.36 to 2.19), 40–49 years (2.30; 1.81 to 2.91), 50–59 years (2.32; 1.84 to 2.93) and 60–69 years (2.27; 1.78 to 2.90) compared with those under 20 years; white-skinned people (0.69 (0.61 to 0.78) for black-skinned people and 0.74 (0.69 to 0.80) for indigenous, yellow and brown-skinned people compared with white-skinned people); those with fewer years of education (1.33(1.12 to 1.58) among those with 9–11 years, 1.14 (0.96 to 1.34) among those with 1–8 years and 1.29 (1.11 to 1.50) among those with 0 years compared with those with ≥12 years of education); those who were separated/ divorced (1.43; 1.29 to 1.59), widowed (1.06; 0.95 to 1.19) and single (1.01; 0.93 to 1.10) compared with married people; smokers (1.26; 1.14 to 1.38); heavy screen users (1.31; 1.16 to 1.48) compared with those whose usage was <6 hours/day; those with a medical diagnosis of a physical disorder (1.80; 1.67 to 1.97); and individuals with a medical diagnosis of a mental health comorbidity (5.05; 4.68 to 5.46). Conclusion: This nationwide population-based study of self-reported lifetime medical diagnosis of depression in Brazil showed that the prevalence was almost 10%. Considering the current Brazilian population, this prevalence corresponds to more than 2 million people who have been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives.