DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN HOSPITALIZED-PATIENTS - A CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY

Objective: To evaluate the level of depressive symptoms among medical inpatients, and to examine the associations with sociodemographic, med ical, and psychosocial characteristics. Method: A point prevalence stu dy (1 day) of all adult medical patients hospitalized at Hadassah Univ ersity Hospital. Patients who were too incapacitated to be interviewed were excluded. The questionnaire included sociodemographic data, soci al supports (MOS Social Support Scale), Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC), and depressive symptoms (CES-D scale). Medical data were collected from the patients' charts. Of the 331 eligible patient s, 256 (77%) were interviewed. Results: The level of depressive sympto ms was high (mean = 21, s.d. = 12). About 60 percent of the patients h ad scores above 16, which is the suggested cut-off point for psychopat hology. A multifactorial analysis of covariance showed that higher sco res of depression were significantly (p < 0.01) associated with being a female, with lower scores of internal and higher scores of external health locus of control and only marginally (p = .08) with medical dia gnosis (multiple R(2) = .33, multiple R = .58). Depressive symptoms we re not associated with age, education, marital status, social supports , type of admission, ward, or length of stay prior to evaluation. Conc lusions: The high levels of depressive symptoms found across medical a nd most of the personal and social characteristics in this first surve y of its kind in Israel may reflect a reaction to the event of hospita lization; sex and locus of control may be suggested as risk markers of elevated depression to be used for screening and prompt psychiatric c onsultation in this population.