Abstract:
Objective: To assess the socio-demographic,
economic, work-family conflict and marital factors
associated with depression in nurses.
Methodology: This was a Descriptive cross
sectional study conducted on nurses working in a
Federal Government Tertiary Care Hospital in
Islamabad over a period of three months. The data
were collected from female nurses who were
between 25 to 40 years of age. Sample size was
250. Pretested modified Agha Khan University
Anxiety and Depression Scale was used to collect
primary data on depressive symptoms, sociodemographic
variables, economic factors, workfamily
conflict and marital relations. SPSS version
20 was used for data analysis. Chi-square test was
applied to see the association between different
variables and depression.
Results: This study indicated various factors
associated with significantly higher rates of
depression in the target population including
younger age (p=0.001), having a graduate degree
(p=0.020) and being married (p=0.002). Economic
stresses like having average personal income
(p=0.004), living in a rented house (p=0.001),
getting no financial support from parents or in-laws
(p=0.003) and facing difficulty in transportation
(p=0.000) were also associated with depression.
Work-Family conflict (p=0.001) and marital
disharmony (p=0.000) were also significant
associates of depression in nurses.
Conclusion: Socio-demographic factors,
economic level, work-family conflict and marital
relations play an important role in causing
depression in nurses. This may contribute to
adverse health outcomes and burnout among this
vital group of healthcare workers. (Rawal Med J
202;45:920-924).
