Search

Background: Depression is a global mental health challenge. We assessed the prevalence of depressive symptoms and their association with age, chronic conditions, and health status among middle-aged and elderly people in peri-urban Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Methods: Depressive symptoms were measured in 2,220 adults aged over 40 years from two wards of Dar es Salaam using the ten-item version of the Center of Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10) and a cut-off score of 10 or higher. The associations of depressive symptoms with age, 13 common chronic conditions, multimorbidity, self-rated health and any limitation in six activities of daily living were examined in univariable and multivariable logistic regressions. Results: The estimated prevalence of depressive symptoms was 30.7% (95% CI 28.5–32.9). In univariable regressions, belonging to age groups 45–49 years (OR 1.35 [95% CI 1.04–1.75]) and over 70 years (OR 2.35 [95% CI 1.66–3.33]), chronic conditions, including ischemic heart disease (OR 3.43 [95% CI 2.64–4.46]), tuberculosis (OR 2.42 [95% CI 1.64–3.57]), signs of cognitive problems (OR 1.90 [95% CI 1.35–2.67]), stroke (OR 1.56 [95% CI 1.05–2.32]) and anemia (OR 1.32 [95% CI 1.01–1.71]) and limitations in activities of daily living (OR 1.35 [95% CI 1.07–1.70]) increased the odds of depressive symptoms. Reporting good or very good health was associated with lower odds of depressive symptoms (OR 0.48 [95% CI 0.35–0.66]). Ischemic heart disease and tuberculosis remained independent predictors of depressive symptoms in multivariable regressions. Conclusion: Depressive symptoms affected almost one in three people aged over 40 years. Their prevalence differed across age groups and was moderated by chronic conditions, health status and socioeconomic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: FFQ are often used to estimate food and nutrient intakes to rank individuals by their level of intake. We evaluated the relative validity of a semi-quantitative FFQ created for use in Tanzania by comparing it with two 24 h diet recalls.Design: We measured relative validity of the FFQ with deattenuated energy-adjusted rank correlations for nutrients, deattenuated rank correlations for food groups, and performed a cross-classification analysis of energy-adjusted nutrient quartiles using percentage of agreement and Bland-Altman analysis.Setting: Interviews were conducted in 2014 in participants' homes in Ukonga, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.Subjects: We surveyed 317 adults aged 40 years or older from the general public.Results: Deattenuated energy-adjusted rank correlation coefficients of nutrients ranged from -0·03 for riboflavin to 0·41 for percentage of energy from carbohydrates, with a median correlation of 0·21. Coefficients for food groups ranged from 0·00 for root vegetables to 0·51 for alcohol, with a median of 0·35. Relative to the average of the two 24 h diet recalls, the FFQ overestimated energy intake and intakes of all nutrients and food groups, other than tea, with ratios among nutrients ranging from 1·34 for SFA to 7·08 for vitamin A; and among food groups from 0·92 for tea to 9·00 for fruit. The percentage of participants classified into the same nutrient intake quartile ranged from 23 % for SFA to 32 % for both niacin and pantothenic acid, with a median of 28 %.Conclusions: The FFQ performed moderately well in urban Tanzanian adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Depression is a global mental health challenge. We assessed the prevalence of depressive symptoms and their association with age, chronic conditions, and health status among middle-aged and elderly people in peri-urban Dar es Salaam, Tanzania., Methods: Depressive symptoms were measured in 2,220 adults aged over 40 years from two wards of Dar es Salaam using the ten-item version of the Center of Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10) and a cut-off score of 10 or higher. The associations of depressive symptoms with age, 13 common chronic conditions, multimorbidity, self-rated health and any limitation in six activities of daily living were examined in univariable and multivariable logistic regressions., Results: The estimated prevalence of depressive symptoms was 30.7% (95% CI 28.5-32.9). In univariable regressions, belonging to age groups 45-49 years (OR 1.35 [95% CI 1.04-1.75]) and over 70 years (OR 2.35 [95% CI 1.66-3.33]), chronic conditions, including ischemic heart disease (OR 3.43 [95% CI 2.64-4.46]), tuberculosis (OR 2.42 [95% CI 1.64-3.57]), signs of cognitive problems (OR 1.90 [95% CI 1.35-2.67]), stroke (OR 1.56 [95% CI 1.05-2.32]) and anemia (OR 1.32 [95% CI 1.01-1.71]) and limitations in activities of daily living (OR 1.35 [95% CI 1.07-1.70]) increased the odds of depressive symptoms. Reporting good or very good health was associated with lower odds of depressive symptoms (OR 0.48 [95% CI 0.35-0.66]). Ischemic heart disease and tuberculosis remained independent predictors of depressive symptoms in multivariable regressions., Conclusion: Depressive symptoms affected almost one in three people aged over 40 years. Their prevalence differed across age groups and was moderated by chronic conditions, health status and socioeconomic factors., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2023.)