Background: Patients suffering from major depression are reported to have poorer quality of life than both the general population and otherwise healthy persons with chronic diseases. The impact of major depression on quality of life is scarcely investigated in developing country.
Methods : An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 15 to April 16, 2017 at Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital. 502 study participants were involved in the study. Quality of life was measured by a structured cross-cultural WHOQOL-BREF. Other tools utilized in this study were Montgomerry-Asberg depression rating scale, Oslo social support scale, and Jacoby perceived stigma scale. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to predict the effect of each factor on domains of quality of life.
Result : The mean score QOL for each domain (mean± SD) was, for physical 43.5±11.9, for psychological 41.2±11.9, for social 40.7±10.6, and for environmental 41.3±9.6. Univariate analysis showed nearly half of the participants scored below the mean score quality of life (QOL). Multiple regression analysis depicted severity of depressive symptoms was strongly negatively correlated with all domains of QOL. It had predicted above 50% of the variability in each domain. Social support was also another strong predictor which was negatively correlated with all QOL domains, except environmental. It had explained above 60% of the variance in physical, and 43.3% for psychological and 44.8% for social domain.
Conclusion: The results shows mean score QOL in each domain is lower compared to other studies, and even nearly half the participants are below the mean score QOL. Severity of depressive symptoms, social support, numbers of episodes in a year, duration on treatment, stigma, being single and rural residence are factors negatively correlated with at least one domain. Treating Major depression should follow a holistic approach and should aim in improving QOL. Keywords: Major Depressive Disorder , Quality of life, WHOQOL-BREF, Associated factor