Depression in Spinal Cord Injury Patients: a Cross-sectional Observation with PHQ-9 in a Rehabilitation Center of Bangladesh

Introduction: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a chronic debilitating condition with long-term sufferings, and depression is considered as common comorbidity. Objective: It was aimed to see the depression status among the SCI patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, Dhaka, Bangladesh, from June 2016 to June 2017 among the patients with SCI. Data were collected with semi-structured self-reporting validated Bengali version of Patient Health Questionnaire 9 from 150 patients conveniently. Results: Among 150 respondents, 28.67% of the respondents were aged between 30–39 years, 90% male, 96% married, 29% illiterate, 64% had complete A in American Spinal Injury Association scale, and 96.67% had traumatic SCI. Among the participants, 30% had moderately severe depression, 28% moderate depression, 25.33% mild depression, 10.66% minimal depression, and 6% had severe depression. Conclusions: Among 150 respondents, 28.67% of the respondents were aged between 30-39 years, 90% male, 96% married, 29% illiterate, 64% had complete A in American Spinal Injury Association scale, and 96.67% had traumatic SCI. Among the participants, 30% had moderately severe depression, 28% moderate depression, 25.33% mild depression, 10.66% minimal depression, and 6% had severe depression. ARTICLE HISTORY Received August 11, 2017 Accepted September 19, 2017 Published November 17, 2017