Prevalence and Predictive Factors of Masked Depression and Anxiety among Jordanian and Palestinian Couples: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Although anxiety and depression are among the most prevalent mental disorders worldwide, they continue to gain less attention than their physical counterparts in terms of health care provision and population mentalisation. This cross-sectional study explores and compares the national prevalence of depression and anxiety signs/symptoms and well as identifying associated socio-demographic factors among Jordanian and Palestinian fertile couples. Four-hundred and sixty-nine participants were eligible for inclusion and agreed to participate in the study. The mean score for HAM-A and BDI-II were 12.3 ± 8.2 and 15.30 ± 10.0, respectively. According to the grading of HAM-A and BDI-II, the majority of the participants have graded themselves to be mildly anxious (N = 323, 68.9%) and around one third of participants (N = 148, 31.6%) moderately to severe depressed. The suicidal intent was remarkable and of concern where around 18.6% of participants had suicidal thoughts and wishes. There was a significant correlation between both HAM-score and BDI-II score and age [p = 0.01, p = 0.011, respectively], body weight [p = 0.01, p = 0.006, respectively], and total monthly income [p < 0.001, p < 0.001, respectively]. Our findings ought to alert healthcare professionals and other interested parties that there is a high burden of anxiety and depression symptoms among Jordanian and Palestinian couples. To support Jordanian and Palestinian couples’ mental health, healthcare professionals, researchers, and educators favoured to concentrate on creating efficient and culturally relevant education, preventive, and intervention procedures utilising evidence-based guidelines.

Family Medicine and Primary Healthcare: The Past, Present and Future

“…The role of clinical trials in the context of family medicine was examined in relation to the attitude of the general population towards compliant participation in studies of this type, aimed at improving public awareness of the importance of participating in clinical trials necessary for the development of new drugs [61]. Of particular interest were aspects related to the importance of family medicine in the management of psychological and emotional disorders; in particular, the following were examined: (i) the relationship between family background associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms [48] and mental health problems among students attending the psychological support clinic at their university [54], (ii) the mediating role that psychological resilience plays in the relationship between family health and health literacy among university students [63], (iii) the relationship between depressive symptoms and socio-demographic factors among fertile Jordanian and Palestinian couples [50], (iv) the possible relationship between depressive disorders and clinic (glycated haemoglobin levels) in elderly patients with diabetes [40] and (v) the burden of caregivers of people with dementia through stress detection instruments [53].…”

“…As evidence of the interest generated by the aforementioned topics of debate, as of 10 July 2023, 18 manuscripts have been accepted for publication in the Special Issue entitled "The 10th Anniversary of Healthcare-Family Medicine" following the peer review process. Specifically, 2 reviews, 1 perspective and 15 articles were published online [39,40,[48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63].…”

Efficacy and Safety of Pharmacist-Managed NSAIDs Deprescribing: A Jordanian Outpatient Study

“…According to the Department of General Statistics in Jordan (2018), the elderly make up around 5% of the country's total population [23]. Older patients are particularly afected, with a higher frequency of chronic diseases than people in other age groups [24][25][26]. Prior reports have documented the high frequency of polypharmacy among elderly patients in Jordan and the irrational and unethical prescribing practices [27].…”

Associação multivariada e múltipla da saúde mental com medidas sociais, condições de saúde e comportamentos humanos habituais de uma comunidade acadêmica durante o período pandêmico da COVID-19

“…As causalidades atribuídas a esse maior acometimento na SM das mulheres durante o período pandêmico foram associadas às situações socioeconômicas desfavoráveis (JABER et al, 2022), às grandes taxas de desemprego, baixa renda, maiores demandas no trabalho doméstico (VALLIÈRES et al, 2022), maior risco de luto complicado pelas mortes de entes queridos, o que elevou a incidência de depressão (WANG et al, 2022).…”

“…Outro estudo concluiu que quanto maior o nível de escolaridade, menor é o índice de sofrimento psicológico e menos precária seria a SM (JABER et al, 2022).…”