• Cheolmin Shin, Yoonjung Kim, Suyeon Park, Seoyoung Yoon, Young Hoon Ko, Yong Ku Kim, Seung Hyun Kim, Sang Won Jeon, and Changsu Han.
• Department of Psychiatry, Korea University College of Medicine, Korea University Ansan Hospital, Ansan, Korea.
• J. Korean Med. Sci. 2017 Nov 1; 32 (11): 1861-1869.

AbstractDepressive disorder is a common mental illness and remains a major cause of morbidity worldwide. The present study, a cross-sectional, nationwide, population-based survey assessed the prevalence of depression in the general population of Korea through a random sampling of the non-institutionalized population for the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) VI. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9 was first introduced into the KNHANES to detect depression. The point prevalence of depression (PHQ score of 10 or higher) was 6.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.7-7.6) in 4,949 subjects. Based on the analysis using the diagnostic algorithm of the PHQ-9, the prevalence of major depressive disorder was 2.7% (95% CI, 2.2-3.3). Multiple logistic regression analysis, after adjusting the sociodemographic variables, also showed that the factors associated with depression were perceived stress and health status. This study reported for the first time that the point prevalence of depression screened using the PHQ-9 in this nationwide survey of the Korean population was similar to that of the western countries. As the KNHANES to detect depression is conducted biennially, further studies on the accumulated data are expected in the future.© 2017 The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences.

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