Prevalence of depression and associated factors among military personnel in Botswana Defence Force

Abstract

Background: Depression is common disorder, affecting about 121 million people worldwide. It is among the leading causes of disability worldwide. Depression can be reliably diagnosed and treated in primary care. The military personnel can be at risk because of their job which including daily training, temporary camping away from home, missions, frequent changing of home from place to place and exposure to dangerous equipment or material. It is important to detect depression among military and treat it during the training, which may lead to attrition if not detected and treated. It is found that there is a limited research in Botswana to assess depression among military personnel. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of depression and factors associated with depression among personnel in Botswana Defence Force in Sir Seretse Khama Barracks in Gaborone, Botswana. Methodology: This was a cross sectional study using quantitative methods. The study population was 268 personnel from Botswana Defence Forces at Sir Seretse Khama Barracks in Gaborone, Botswana. Data was collected using the PHQ-9 to screen for depression, a semi-structured questionnaire to capture the socio-demographic characteristics. The Conflict Tactics Scale 2 was used to measure Intimate Partner Violence and to measure social support; the Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale (MSPSS) was used. Data was analysed using SPSS 23.0. The outcome measure was depression in the past two weeks. Ethical clearance was obtained from MUHAS Senate Research and Publications Committee. Results: A total of 268 participants were included in the study, of which 215 (80.2%) were male and 53 (19.8) were female. All these participants were from the Sir Seretse Khama Barracks. The age range was 19-50 with the mean age (SD) of 29.4 (6.4). Most of the participants belonged to the age group 25-34 (57.5%). 123 (45.9%) of the population was never married, while of the sample had secondary education with 179 (66.8%) the remaining population of 89 (33.2%) had higher education. Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) were the most participants at 63.8%, followed by the Senior Officers (SO) with 26.5% and Junior Officers at 9.7%. The prevalence of depression was 23.1%, among socio-demographic characteristics age (34-44 years) was associated with depression when adjusting for risk factors (AOR 3.4 with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.22-9.44); p =0.019) and those with ≥ 45 years (AOR 5.1 with 95% CI 1.07-11.29; p=0.041). Intimate partner violence was associated with depression (AOR 2.86 with 95% CI 1.37-5.94; p<0.001); low perceived social support was associated with depression (AOR 4.69 with 95% CI 1.84-11.96; p=0.001) when adjusted for confounders. Conclusions and Recommendations: The study found that one in every four military personnel in Botswana Defence Force to have depression. In addition the study discovered likelihood of developing depression among the BDF personnel increased with the increase of age. Intimate Partner Violence and low social support are independently associated with depression when adjusted for confounders. With the findings from this study the researcher would recommend to the military command that; there should be screening and early interventions of depression among military personnel. There should also screening and early interventions for IPV among military personnel.