Prevalence and Severity of Depression among Women in Aden, Yemen: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Depression is more common among women than men.


Objective: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and severity of depression among adult women in Aden, Yemen, and to determine the associated sociodemographic factors contributing to increasing the prevalence of depression among those women.


Methods: A total of 240 women were enrolled in this analytical cross-sectional study. The PHQ-9 structured questionnaire was used for evaluation of the depression and its severity, and data were analyzed using the SPSS.


Results: the response rate was 69.97% (240/343). The majority of women were 75.8% single, 80.8% postgraduate educated, and 78.8% had medium socioeconomic status. The prevalence of depression among women was 83.3%. The highest significant depression rates were 92.5% and 90.7% in the age group 25-28 years and the age group >28 years, respectively (p=0.023), and 100% among divorced women (p=0.0001). According to the severity of depression, 33.8% of women had mild depression, 16.3% had moderate depression, and 33.3% had severe depression. The highest significant prevalence for severe depression was 89.8% among women in the age group >28 years, 100% among divorced women, 70.6% among postgraduate-educated women, and 45.3% among those women who had a medium income (p=.0001).


Conclusions: The prevalence of depression among women in Yemen was the highest compared to global rates. The depression among women is associated with age and marital status. The severity of depression is strongly associated with different sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors, including age, marital status, education, and income. Severe depression is significantly associated with the age group 25–28 years, divorced women, postgraduate-educated women, and medium-income women.