Journal of Clinical Medicine Research, ISSN 1918-3003 print, 1918-3011 online, Open Access
Article copyright, the authors; Journal compilation copyright, J Clin Med Res and Elmer Press Inc
Journal website http://www.jocmr.org

Original Article

Volume 10, Number 3, March 2018, pages 202-209


A Brief Survey of Public Knowledge and Stigma Towards Depression

Figure

Figure 1.
Figure 1. The public’s beliefs regarding depression (n = 1,085).

Tables

Table 1. Characteristics of Study Participants (n = 1,085)
 
IQR: interquartile range; SD: standard deviation; HL: health literacy. aMissing values were omitted when calculating percentages.
Age, median, IQR (range)55; 37 - 66; 18 - 91
Sex, n (%)a
  Male368 (34.1%)
  Female711 (65.9%)
Employed, n (%)a552 (51.4%)
Educational background, n (%)a
  Nine years of compulsory education or less180 (17.2%)
  Twelve years of upper secondary education541 (51.6%)
  Post-secondary or short-cycle tertiary education233 (22.2%)
  Tertiary education at bachelor’s level or above94 (9.0%)
Medical condition, n (%)a
  Regularly visit an outpatient clinic480 (46.0%)
  History of depression37 (3.8%)
Health literacy score, median, IQR (range)
  Total health literacy score3.40; 2.80 - 4.00; 1 - 5
  Communicative health literacy score3.67; 2.67 - 4.00; 1 - 5
  Critical health literacy score3.50; 2.50 - 4.00; 1 - 5

 

Table 2. Percentages of Appropriate Beliefs Regarding Depression
 
Misunderstanding about the behavior of depressed peopleaBelief about the necessity of restbBelief about the effectiveness of pharmacotherapycStigma about the cause of depressiond
%nP%nP%nP%nP
aAppropriate responses: “strongly disagree” and “disagree” to “it is not necessary to worry about depression in a person behaving brightly”. bAppropriate responses: “strongly agree” and “agree” to “rest is important for treating depression”. cAppropriate responses: “strongly agree” and “agree” to “medicine is effective for treating depression”. dAppropriate responses: “strongly disagree” and “disagree” to “a weak personality causes depression”.
Total70.8%768/1,08575.6%820/1,08558.9%639/1,08554.5%591/1,085
Age group
  Younger (18 - 54 years)83.5%451/540< 0.00181.1%438/540< 0.00155.6%300/5400.0365.7%355/540< 0.001
  Older (≥ 55 years)58.2%317/54570.1%382/54562.2%339/54543.3%236/545
Sex
  Male58.2%214/368< 0.00168.8%253/368< 0.00154.9%202/3680.0745.1%166/368< 0.001
  Female77.5%551/71179.0%562/71160.6%431/71159.5%423/711
Employment status
  Employed76.6%423/552< 0.00173.6%406/5520.1455.4%306/5520.0357.1%315/5520.08
  Unemployed64.9%339/52277.4%404/52262.1%324/52251.7%270/522
Educational background
  Nine years of compulsory education or less53.9%97/180< 0.00168.3%123/1800.0352.2%94/1800.2437.8%68/180< 0.001
  Twelve years of upper secondary education71.9%389/54176.5%414/54158.8%318/54155.3%299/541
  Post-secondary or short-cycle tertiary education81.1%189/23377.7%181/23361.8%144/23364.4%150/233
  Tertiary education at bachelor’s level or above78.7%74/9483.0%78/9460.6%57/9463.8%60/94
Medical condition
  Regularly visit an outpatient clinic, yes64.0%307/480< 0.00176.3%366/4800.4761.0%293/4800.1549.6%238/4800.001
  no77.8%438/56375.5%425/56356.7 %319/56359.5%335/563
  History of depression, yes89.2%33/370.0186.5%32/370.1567.6%25/370.2670.3%26/370.06
  no70.5%668/94776.3%723/94758.2%551/94754.6%517/947
Health literacy score
  Total health literacy, higher73.2%443/6050.04778.8%477/6050.00563.0%381/6050.00256.7%343/6050.10
  Total health literacy, lower67.7%325/48071.5%343/48053.8%258/48051.7%248/480
  Communicative health literacy, higher74.2%420/5660.0180.0%453/566<0.00163.6%360/5660.00157.4%325/5660.04
  Communicative health literacy, lower67.1%348/51970.7%367/51953.8%279/51951.3%266/519
  Critical health literacy, higher71.8%404/5630.4677.6%437/5630.163.4%357/5630.00256.0%315/5630.31
  Critical health literacy, lower69.7%364/52273.4%383/52254.0%282/52252.9%276/522

 

Table 3. Factors Independently Associated with Appropriate Beliefs Regarding Depression
 
Misunderstanding about the behavior of depressed peopleaBelief about the necessity of restbBelief about the effectiveness of pharmacotherapycStigma about the cause of depressiond
Adjusted OR95% CIPAdjusted OR95% CIPAdjusted OR95% CIPAdjusted OR95% CIP
OR: odds ratio; CI: confidence interval; HL: health literacy. aAppropriate responses: “strongly disagree” and “disagree” to “it is not necessary to worry about depression in a person behaving brightly”. bAppropriate responses: “strongly agree” and “agree” to “rest is important for treating depression”. cAppropriate responses: “strongly agree” and “agree” to “medicine is effective for treating depression”. dAppropriate responses: “strongly disagree” and “disagree” to “a weak personality causes depression”. eYounger age group: 18 - 54 years old. fHigher educational background: post-secondary, tertiary education or above (≥ 13 years). gHigher health literacy group: total health literacy score ≥ 3.4.
Younger age groupe2.451.69 - 3.53< 0.0011.931.33 - 2.80< 0.0010.740.54 - 1.020.061.991.45 - 2.73< 0.001
Female2.251.64 - 3.10< 0.0011.581.14 - 2.180.0061.351.02 - 1.800.041.561.17 - 2.080.003
Employed1.411.02 - 1.950.040.680.49 - 0.950.030.910.69 - 1.200.500.990.75 - 1.320.96
Higher educational backgroundf1.461.02 - 2.090.041.070.76 - 1.520.691.280.95 - 1.710.101.351.00 - 1.810.05
Regularly visit an outpatient clinic0.800.58 - 1.110.181.270.91 - 1.780.161.110.84 - 1.480.460.950.71 - 1.270.74
History of depression3.071.03 - 9.190.041.520.57 - 4.010.401.530.75 - 3.130.251.620.77 - 3.410.20
Higher health literacy groupg1.290.95 - 1.750.101.360.99 - 1.840.051.481.14 - 1.930.0031.270.97 - 1.650.08