Prevalence of mental illness among women in an urban slum area of Jaipur: A cross- sectional study

Abstract

Gender has been described as a critical determinant of mental health and mental illness. Depression is not only the most common women's mental health problem, but may be more persistent in women than men.To assess the burden of depression, anxiety and stress among women residing in urban slums of Jaipur and also to assess the factors affecting them. A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in an urban field practice area among women aged 18-59 years with calculated sample size of 503. Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS)-21 questionnaire was used to capture the primary outcomes—depression, anxiety, and stress. Data was analyzed using SPSS and MS Excel. The statistical significance was evaluated at 95% confidence level. The difference in proportions was compared using Chi-square test and p-value <0.05 was considered significant. In our study, the overall, the prevalence of anxiety, stress and depression was 38.22%, 9.11%, and 18.61%, respectively which ranged from mild to extremely severe. There were meaningful correlations between probable factors like physical inactivity, poor sleep and generalized pain and DASS scores obtained by the participants. The study showed that the prevalence of anxiety was higher compared to other DASS symptoms. The DASS symptoms were poorly associated to demographic characteristics of the study participants although amongst the separated and widowed females there was significant statistical association.