THE DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY ASSESSMENT AMONG WOMEN WITH HIGH BODY MASS INDEX WHO ATTENDING PRIMARY HEALTH CARE CENTERS IN TAIF CITY

Background: Obesity is the most common chronic physical illness in modern society, and depression is the most prevalent psychological condition.

Objectives: To evaluate and asses the psychological impacts of depression and anxiety among women with high body mass index.

Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Taif cit, Western Saudi Arabia among a random sample of adult females aged

≥18 years old with high body mass index (≥25 kg/m²) presented in primary health care centers during the period February-July, 2019. Data were collected using a questionnaire including the socio-demographic data, the body mass index, as well as Patient Health queationnaire-9 items (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) to assess depression and anxiety, respectively.

Results: The study included 384 women. The age of almost one-third of them either ranged between 41 and 50 years (35.4%) or exceeded 50 years (32%). About 59.4% of the participants were overweight while the remaining 40.6% were obese. Overall, mild and moderate levels of anxiety were reported among 30.7% and 0.8% of the adult females, respectively while severe anxiety was not reported among anyone.

Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that after controlling for confounders, obsess females were at higher risk for anxiety compared to overweight group (Adjusted odds ratio “AOR”=2.49; 95% confidence interval “CI”=1.47-4.24, p=0.001. Apart from BMI, single marital status and history of chronic diseases were significant predictors for anxiety among overweight/obese women. The prevalence of depression was 46.6%; being mild among 35.7% and moderate or moderately severe among 10.9% of them. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that after controlling for confounders, obsess females were at almost three folded risk for depression compared to overweight group (AOR=3.19; 95% CI=1.89-5.37, p<0.001. Other indicators for depression apart from BMI were non-Saudi nationality (p<0.001), illiterate status (p-value ranged from 0.043 to 0.001), being house wife (p=0.005) and having low income (p value ranged from 0.006-0.002).

Conclusion: Depression and anxiety are common psychiatric health problems among adult overweight/obese females with obese females were at higher risk for both problems than overweight females.