ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Depression and suicidal ideation are large contributors to disease burden and economic costs worldwide. Depression and suicidal ideation can be influenced by factors such as stressful life events, family history, alcohol and illicit drug use. Identifying factors that influence depression and suicidal ideation as well as improving knowledge about depression and positive attitudes towards depression will lead to better health outcomes. OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of depression and suicidal ideation among nonacademic staff in the University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State, and to identify the influencing factors. METHODOLOGY: An analytical cross-sectional study was carried out among 350 nonacademic staff. Multistage sampling technique was used to select the respondents. Ethical approval was obtained from the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. Informed consent was obtained from the respondents before administering the questionnaires. Pretested selfadministered questionnaires were used for data collection. Data was coded, entered and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 25.0 software. The association between sociodemographic variables and prevalence of depression and suicidal ideation was analyzed using Chi-squared test and Fisher’s exact test where applicable. Descriptive data were expressed as frequencies, percentages and means +/- standard deviation. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05 at 95% confidence interval. Results were presented in forms of prose, tables, bar charts and pie charts. RESULTS: Most of the respondents 120 (34.3%) were within the age group 41-50 years. 186 (53.1%) were males. Three hundred and thirty two, 332 (94.9%) were Christian and 239 (68.3%) were married. Two hundred and fifty five, 255 (72.9%) had good knowledge of depression. Two hundred and twenty, 220 (62.9%) had negative personal attitude towards xiv depression and 278 (79.7%) had negative perceived attitude towards depression. Sixty eight, 68 (19.4%) were depressed and 25 (7.1%) had suicidal ideation. Depression was influenced by recent stressful life events. Suicidal ideation was influenced by use of illicit drugs. Twenty three, 23 (92.0%) who had suicidal ideation were depressed. Predictors of depression included female gender (OR – 1.193, 95% C.I = 0.692 – 2.056), ever being married (OR – 1.647, 95% C.I = 0.868 – 3.124) and tertiary level of education (OR – 2.316, 95% C.I = 1.054 – 5.089). Predictors of suicidal ideation were female gender (OR – 1.076, 95% C.I = 0.468 – 2.469), ever being married (OR – 1.234, 95% C.I = 0.456 – 3.336) and tertiary level of education (OR – 2.783, 95% C.I = 0.907 – 8.538).
