Screening of Depressive Symptoms in a Russian General Population Sample: A Web-based Cross-sectional Study

Web-based screening of depressive symptoms in general non-clinical population can provide better insights into actual prevalence of depressive symptoms and associated risk factors. To study the current prevalence of depressive symptoms in Russian non-clinical population we conducted screening using an online survey based on Depression subscale of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-D).

The online survey covered 2610 Russian-speaking respondents and included HADS-D, questions about sex, age and presence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) diagnoses or symptoms in respondents.

The proportion of respondents with depressive symptoms, estimated by online HADS-D, was 14.4% (11.5% - at subclinical level, 2.9% - at clinical level). The overall HADS-D score was higher in women (p=0.003), in young individuals under 30 y.o vs. participants over 42 y.o. (p=0.004) and in individuals with self-reported CVD symptoms (p=0.00002). Linear regression analysis showed that self-reported CVD symptoms increase HADS-D score (p<0.001), but male sex (p=0.002) and older age (p<0.001) decrease it. Logistic regression showed that CVD symptoms increase the risk of depressive symptoms by HADS-D (p=0.033, OR=1.29), but older age (p=0.015, OR=0.87) and male sex (as a trend, p=0.052, OR=0.80) decrease this risk.

Online survey based on HADS-D showed new patterns of depressive symptoms prevalence in Russian non-clinical population. Depressive symptoms prevalence did not differ between men and women and was higher among young people. The reported association between depressive symptoms and CVD was confirmed.