Depression, demographic factors and conditions for which women seek health care

Abstract

The purposes of this secondary data analysis were to explore: a) the differences among three groups of women (not depressed, mildly depressed, and severely depressed) on sociodemographic characteristics and health status; b) the differences among groups in health conditions for which women seek health care services; and c) the relationships among sociodemographic factors, health status, health conditions and depression. The study used a comparative, descriptive design with a convenience sample of 141 English-speaking women who lived independently in a public housing facility. The women were divided into three groups based on their scores on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies for Depression (CES-D) scale. Significant differences were found among three groups of women for age, financial status, health status, and health conditions of chest pain and broken bone. Age, financial status, health status and health conditions requiring urgent attention were associated with depression in women.