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Depression and health risk factors in the North West Adelaide Health Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2014

N Potts,
D Wilson,
A Taylor,
T Gill,
G Schrader and
R Ruffin
N Potts
Affiliation:
University of Adelaide
D Wilson
Affiliation:
Health Observatory, Department of Medicine, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital
A Taylor
Affiliation:
Population Research and Outcome Studies Unit, South Australian Department of Health
T Gill
Affiliation:
Population Research and Outcome Studies Unit, South Australian Department of Health
G Schrader
Affiliation:
University of AdelaideDepartment of Psychiatry, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Adelaide, Australia
R Ruffin
Affiliation:
Health Observatory, Department of Medicine, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital
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Abstract

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Information

Type
Abstracts from ‘Brainwaves’— The Australasian Society for Psychiatric Research Annual Meeting 2006, 6–8 December, Sydney, Australia
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 18 , Issue 6 , December 2006, pp. 304 - 305
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 Blackwell Munksgaard

Background:

The North West Adelaide Health Study is a population-based biomedical cohort study investigating the prevalence of chronic conditions and health-related risk factors. This study is based on a randomly selected group of individuals over the age of 18, who agreed to be involved in a longitudinal health study.

Methods:

Over the past 18 months, 3488 participants were assessed. General demographic and socioeconomic data were collected. Participants were assessed for the presence of a number of chronic conditions including major depression, chronic lung disease, quality of life using the SF-36 and health risk factors such as body mass index, smoking and exercise.

Results:

Of the 3488 participants, 12.5% (436/3488) met criteria for depression. Depression was statistically significantly more likely among those who were current smokers, obese, had a high waist-hip ratio or waist circumference than those without these risk factors but less likely in those who undertook exercise. Depression was also associated with significantly lower scores on all the quality of life scores as measured on the SF-36. In general, depression was not associated with a diagnosis of either asthma or COPD.

Conclusions:

The prevalence of depression was higher than in previous studies. Importantly, depression was more common in people with significant health risk factors but not with chronic lung diseases. Regular exercise was associated with a reduction in rates of depression. The possible reasons for this will be examined.