Depression and certain family characteristics among University of Ilorin students

Abstract

Depression among undergraduates is gradually gaining public health concern globally. In Nigeria, there has been an observation of a rising prevalence of depression, suicides, and attempted suicides with associated detrimental effects on academic performance and overall functioning among undergraduates in the last decade. While  data on other risk factors for depression abound, there is paucity of data on the association between family characteristics and depression among the students of the University of Ilorin. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of depression, its pattern of severity, and association with certain family characteristics among students attending the University of Ilorin Health Centre. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 353 selected students attending the Health Centre from May to July 2017 using structured questionnaires (Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Index of Family Relation scale) and semi-structured questionnaire. Analysis was done with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20 and the level of statistical significance was set at a p-value of ≤ 0.05 at 95% confidence interval. The age range of the respondents was 16-26years with a mean of 20.43years SD ±2.20.The prevalence of depression was 45.3% out of which, 59.4% had mild depression, 27.5% had moderate depression, 9.4% had moderately severe depression and 3.7% had severe depression. Depression was positively associated with family relationship (p-value= 0.011), parents living together (p-value= 0.008) and order of birth (p-value = 0.001).  The study showed that the prevalence of depression among the students was high with worrisome proportion of those with severe forms (moderately severe and severe depression). Certain family characteristics (parents living together, order of birth, and family relationship) were found to be statistically associated with depression among the students. Routine screening at the University Health center for early diagnosis and treatment to avoid grave outcomes is advised.