Resumo

RIVEROS VARGAS, Mónica; BOHORQUEZ PENARANDA, Adriana; GOMEZ-RESTREPO, Carlos  e  OKUDA BENAVIDES, Mayumi. HPatients' Knowledge about Depression among Patients Treated in Primary Care Settings in Bogotá, Colombia. Colombian Results of the International Depression Project. rev.colomb.psiquiatr. [online]. 2006, vol.35, n.1, pp.9-22. ISSN 0034-7450.

Objectives: To evaluate the degree of knowledge and beliefs about depression among patients who attend primary care clinics in Bogotá. Materials and methods: A crosssectional study. Two groups were chosen from patients who attended primary care clinics, before and after health professionals received an educational intervention about depression: 1,642 patients (group A), and 1,839 patients (group B). 76% of patients in group A an 85.3% of patients in group B had heard of the term "depression". A questionnaire was administered to these patients to evaluate their knowledge about depression. The instrument was designed by the group of investigators and validated in the pilot study. Results: Depression was considered a common problem in 71.3% of patients of group A and 75% of patients of group B. Most of the patients thought that depression was curable (70.8% in group A and 72.5% in group B). Approximately half of the patients in both groups considered depression to be a mental disease that required medical treatment and that most depressed patients are not suicidal. A total of 44.7% of patients in group A and 51.8% of patients in group B considered antidepressants as being addictive. The degree of recognition of typical symptoms was insufficient in 50.1% of the patients of group A and 59.7% of the patients of group B. Likewise, the degree of recognition of risk factors for depression was insufficient in both groups. A high level of stigmatization of the disease was found in 57.5% of the patients in group A and 42.5% in group B. Conclusion: There is a limited degree of knowledge about depression in patients who attend primary care clinics, the level of stigmatization of the disease is high, and it is possible that patients' deficiency of knowledge about depression could lead to underdiagnosis.

Palavras-chave : Health knowledge and attitudes; primary health care; cost of Illness; depressive disorder.

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