Prevalence and predictors of depression among women in Afghanistan: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Depression is a very common mental health illness characterized by a cluster of signs and symptoms ranging from mood disturbances and sleep or appetite disorders to physical manifestations of the body. The purpose of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of depression and its related factors among Afghan women. A cross-sectional study was conducted among women between July 14, 2021, to August 15, 2021, in Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif and Samangan provinces (Afghanistan). A total of 664 Afghan women participated in the study (mean age = 28.85 years; SD ± 11.57). In order to assess depression among participants, the 19-item validated Dari version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies–Depression Scale was used. Approximately four-fifths of the sample had depression symptoms (79.1%). Participants with depression symptoms were significantly more likely to (i) be aged over 30 years, (ii) live in rural areas, (iii) have a low-income level, (iv) not have an occupation, (v) have any disease/illness, and (vi) have experienced an event that had mentally affected them in the past month. Considering the high prevalence of depression symptoms among Afghan women, there is a need to integrate mental health services for women in Afghanistan. The use of interventions including regular screening for depression symptoms, and educating women and girls concerning the symptoms of depression for early self-diagnosis are essential.

Health survey on anxiety, depression, and stress in Afghanistan: A large-scale cross-sectional survey study

“…Almost three-quarters of participants reported anxiety symptoms (71.9%) with those aged over 34 years reporting a higher prevalence (84.9%), in contrast to those aged under 35 years (66.7%). This is in line with ndings of a previous study among women in Afghanistan (n = 438) which reported that the prevalence of anxiety among older participants (75.6%) was higher than younger ones (89.1%) [23], a nding that is generally supported in the literature [22][23]. This differs from ndings in a study conducted in Iran (n = 7886), where the prevalence of anxiety was reported to be higher among younger participants (20.1%) than older participants (13.8%) [35].…”

“…More speci cally, those with a low family monthly income recorded a higher prevalence of anxiety (75.7%) in comparison to those with a high family monthly income (47.3%). This nding is in line with the ndings of a previous study in Afghanistan (n = 664) that reported higher prevalence of anxiety among low monthly family income participants compared to high income monthly family income [22].…”

“…The ndings of this study align with a previous study which reported 79.0% depression among women in Afghanistan (79.0%) [22]. This suggests that depression symptoms remained the same even after the war ended in Afghanistan.…”

“…The Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan has brought about signi cant political, social, and economic changes that appear to have had a profound impact on the well-being of the Afghan population [25,26]. Several studies have reported severe anxiety, depression and stress among the Afghan people but these have been localized studies and/or included a speci c proportion of the Afghan society [22,23,27]. The present national survey was carried out to examine the mental health issues faced by Afghan people and determine the socio-demographic factors associated stress, anxiety, and depression.…”

“…These circumstances have the potential to exacerbate pre-existing mental health disorders among the populace. Additionally, the advent of COVID-19, coupled with other contributing factors (e.g., poverty), is likely to have adversely affected mental wellbeing [22]. The closure of numerous schools and daycare facilities has compelled women to shoulder additional responsibilities, including the care of children and/or elderly family members, often concurrently managing remote work obligations [21].…”