National Journal of Community Medicine│Volume 8│Issue 5│May 2017 Page 262 ORIGINAL ARTICLE pISSN 0976 3325│eISSN 2229 6816 Open Access Article www.njcmindia.org Prevalence and Correlates of Unrecognised Depression Associated with Common Skin Morbidities among Attendees in a Teaching Hospital Dermatology Outpatient’s Department Dharmvir R Bharati 1 , Seema Kumari 2 , Sanjay Kumar 3 , Kranti C Jaykar 4 , Krishna Kumar Singh 5 , Ranbir Pal 6 Financial Support: None declared Conflict of Interest: None declared Copy Right: The Journal retains the copyrights of this article. However, re- production of this article in the part or total in any form is permissible with due acknowledgement of the source. How to cite this article: Bharati DR, Kumari S, Kumar S, Jaykar KC, Singh KK, Pal R. Prevalence and Correlates of Unrecognised Depression Associated with Common Skin Mor- bidities among Attendees in a Teaching Hospital Dermatology Outpatient’s Department. Natl J Community Med 2017; 8(5):262-267. Author’s Affiliation: 1 Associate Professor, Dept of Commu- nity Medicine; 2 Senior Resident, Com- munity Medicine; 3 Professor & Head, Dept of Community Medicine; 4 Assistant Professor, Dept of Skin & VD; 5 Assistant Professor, Dept of Psy- chiatry, IGIMS, Patna; 6 Professor & Head, Dept of Community Medicine, ESIC medical college, Faridabad. Correspondence Dr. Dharmvir Ranjan Baharati drbharati1971@gmail.com Date of Submission: 05-04-17 Date of Acceptance: 08-05-17 Date of Publication: 31-05-17 ABSTRACT Background: The health care providers need to be aware of solving psychodermatological disorders by a multidisciplinary team ap- proach. Objectives: This study was carried out to find the prevalence and correlates of unrecognised depression linked with common skin morbidities among attendees in a teaching hospital dermatology outpatients department. Methods: This was as institution based cross-sectional study con- ducted during October and November 2016 at Indira Gandhi Insti- tute of Medical Sciences, Patna, India among 356 consecutive con- senting adults with common skin diseases attending dermatology outpatient department fulfilling inclusion criteria using Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Results: Among 356 participants aged 18 years and above having one of six most commonly diagnosed disease depression was pre- sent among 204 (57.3%), mostly mild depression 84 (41.18%) fol- lowed by moderate (23.53%) moderately severe (21.57%) and se- vere (13.72%). Depression among various dermatological ailments was mostly noted with Tinea infection (66%) and least among Vitiligo and Acnae cases (20% each). In statistical analysis, prob- ability of having significantly increased risk of depression was found among females, illiterates and less educated, perusing household works, from larger families, having lower personal in- come, suffering for more than 13 months and suffering from itch- ing skin disease, receiving continuous treatment, and having co- morbidities. Conclusions: Magnitude of depression among patients suffering from dermatological conditions was alarmingly high and was in- fluenced by the various risk factors. Key words: depression, skin disease, risk factors INTRODUCTION Depression is characterized by persistent sadness with a loss of interest and inability to carry out daily activities, which anyone normally enjoys, for at least two weeks. It is one of the most common forms of mental ill-health in the general population associated with chronic morbidity and mortality, and imposes a substantial burden in developing and developed countries. 1 In India, the National Mental Health Survey 2015-16 revealed that virtu-