Abstract

Background: Increased prevalence of depression has been described in hypertensive patients. Objectives: To estimate the percentage of depression identified by Becks Depression Inventory scale (BDI) as screening tool among hypertensive patients and its associated factors at AL-Hejrah primary health care center (PHCC) Makkah Al-Mukarramah city, 2012. Subjects and Methods: It was a cross-sectional analytic study included a representative sample of hypertensive patients attending chronic disease clinic at Al-Hejrah PHCC in Makkah Al-Mukarramah. Interviewing questionnaire consists of three parts was used for data collection. It included demographic data (nine items), associated factors (fifteen items) and BDI (valid in Arabic version). Results: The study included 54 hypertensive patients attended and registered at Al- Hejrah PHCC. Their age ranged between 30 and 80 years with a mean of 53.8 years and standard deviation of 12.7 years. Slightly more than half of them were females (53.7%). Depression with various degrees of severity was reported among two thirds of hypertensive patients (66.7%). It was severe among 37%% of them. Its prevalence was significantly higher among females, not-married, illiterate, low income, house wives or governmental employee patients. In addition depression was significantly associated with lack of physical activity, family history of depression, low frequency of BP monitoring, uncontrolled BP and hypertension complications. Conclusions: Depression was a highly prevalent disorder among hypertensive patients in Al-Hejrah PHCC, Makkah, Saudi Arabia. It is a complex clinical and social problem, influenced in part with patient ` characteristics as gender, level of education, income, job status, marital status, family history of depression and physical activity as well as factors related to the hypertension such as presence of complications and low rate of blood pressure follow-up.Keywords: Hypertension; Depression; Becks Depression Inventory scale; Saudi Arabia