Epidemio-clinical profile of depressions seen at the psychiatric usfr (hjrb) and at the mental health section (eusspa) antananarivo

Introduction: Depression is one of the five most common diseases in the world, with a high degree of mortality related to suicide risk and also accompanied by a high degree of disability, depression is the main cause of DALY. Its clinical presentation differs according to the culture. Our study aims to describe its clinical presentation in Madagascar. Methods and patients: It is a prospective, observational and descriptive study over a 10-month period, from July 2013 to April 2014. 98 patients were retained. Results: The prevalence of depression is 12.34% female was the majority with a sex ration of 0.34 the mean age was 36.32 with extremes of 16 and 71 years. The majority of patients had a low socio-economic level (72%), married. They suffered chronically (more than 24 months) (47%) and the triggering factor was mainly conflicts (51%), the presentation was rather masked (65.4%), the main signs were sleep disorders (79%) followed by pain and somatic complaints (69%). more than 25% of patients had already consulted more than two doctors without being diagnosed. Only 10% of patients had received antidepressant treatment and the rest received only fortifiers and painkillers. More than half of our patients take toxic substances and 47% have stopped their socio-professional activities. Conclusion: Depression is very frequent in Madagascar, clinical presentations are mostly masked by somatic complaints. Health workers seem to have little knowledge and competence in this area. Government and political actions are needed