Description
Women of reproductive age suffer disproportionate depression which is a principal cause of disability, ranking among 4th in the 10 leading causes of the Global Burden of Disease. Severe depression is evidenced by avolition, reduction in concentration, feelings of guilt and worthlessness. Marked distress, suicidal thoughts, attempts and even acts are common in severe cases. Early case finding, management and treatment of depression in primary care is a fundamental step to enable the greatest number of cases to get easier and faster access to services. The majority of communities in middle and low-income countries seek help at the Primary Health Care level as a first step and choice. There are effective screening tools for detecting depression that would facilitate early case-finding and interventions. The specific objectives of the study were to determine the socio-demographic characteristics of the study participants, evaluate the rates of diagnosis of depression and to establish the symptoms presented among the study participants. A cross-sectional study design was adopted. The study setting was at the Kabarak Health Centre located in Menengai Sub-location, Nakuru County. A sample size of 35 used based revision using Cochran formula out of N=40. Self-administered questionnaires with both structured and semi-structured questions were used. The study findings were: 82.9% respondents presented with mild, moderate to severe depression, representing 31.4%, 23.9%, and 28.6% respectively. Depression was most prevalent among mothers who were married, those aged 10-24 years and those below tertiary level of education. Common symptoms comprised having little energy (28.6%), trouble with sleep (11.4%) and reduced pleasure with poor concentrating (8.6%). The study concluded that depression is common among antenatal mothers in PHC settings. The recommendations included routine screening in PHC settings for early case-finding and intervention.
