Objective: To determine the prevalence and associated factors of major depressive episode in the surgical wards inpatients at a university hospital in Thailand.

Materials and Methods: The present study was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Participants were 174 inpatients who were admitted to the surgical wards during January and November 2015. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics were collected. The patients were assessed for depressive symptoms by using the Thai version of the Two-question screening for depression and Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, Thai version [MINI] modules for Major Depressive Episode and Suicide ideality.

Results: The prevalence of major depressive episodes in the surgical inpatients was 5.7%. Associated factors of depression were psychoactive drugs use (adjusted OR 9.63, 95% CI 1.27 to 72.99) and diagnosis in certain infectious and parasitic diseases (adjusted OR 21.38, 95% CI 1.60 to 285.26).

Conclusion: The prevalence of depression at 5.7% in surgical inpatients was higher than that in the general Thai population. The associated factors of depression were psychoactive drug use and diagnosis of certain infectious and parasitic diseases.

Keywords: Prevalence, Depression, Associated factors, Surgical wards, Inpatients