Prevalence of Depression among a Population Aged over 45 Years in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Suparus Wangtongkum MD*, Phongsakorn Sucharitakul MSW (Clinical)*, Sriwanna Wongjaroen Dip in Nurse*, Suthin Maneechompoo Dip in Nurse*
Affiliation : * Chiang Mai Neurological Hospital, Chiang Mai
Objective : To determine the prevalence of depression in Thai people of 45 years and over.
Material and Method: The presented project was a cross sectional study on the prevalence of depression and
cognitive impairment in Chiang Mai. Door-to-door interview technique was assigned in condition with multi-
stage probability random sampling to obtain subjects that represent a population of Chiang Mai. The research
was conducted between October 2004 and September 2005. Data were collected on subject that were 45 years
old and over. All subjects were selected from all districts in Chiang Mai. Thai Mini Mental State Examination
(TMSE) and Thai Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were used as the assessment tool. If the subjects had a
TMSE score less than 24 points, it was assumed as a cognitive impairment.
Results : One thousand four hundred ninety two people, 610 males and 882 females, were enrolled in the
present study. Their mean age was 59.7 + 10.4 years (45-88 year). The prevalence of depression only was
29.2%, the prevalence of cognitive impairment only was 5.63% and the prevalence of cognitive impairment
with depression was 3.96%. The prevalence of depression increased with age.
Conclusion : The prevalence of depression in Thai people of 45 years and over was 29.2% and increased with
age.
Keywords : Prevalence, Depression, Cognitive impairment
