SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC, LIFESTYLE AND HEALTH FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH DEPRESSION AMONG ADULTS IN MALAYSIA: AN ETHNIC COMPARISON

Received 2019-03-18; Accepted 2019-05-18; Published 2019-06-29

Authors

  • Cheah YK 1School of Economics, Finance and Banking, College of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 06010 UUM Sintok, Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia 2 The Center for Health and the Social Sciences (CHeSS), University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
  • Azahadi M Centre for Burden of Disease Research, Institute for Public Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Jalan Setia Murni U13/52, Alam Nusantara, 40170 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.
  • Phang SN School of Government, College of Law, Government and International Studies, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 06010 UUM Sintok, Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia
  • Abd Manaf NH Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia, 50728 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22452/jummec.vol22no1.6

Keywords:

depression, ethnicity, gender, lifestyle, mental health

Abstract

Background: Depression is a serious mental health illness worldwide. The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationships between depression and its risk factors of sociodemography, lifestyle, and health among the adults of the different ethnic groups in Malaysia. Method: A nationwide database with 10141 observations was used. Multivariable logistic regression analyses stratified by ethnicity were estimated. Results: Ethnicity and gender, age, education, marital status and self-rated health were correlated to the likelihood of having depression. Malay females and smokers (AOR: 2.083) were more likely to suffer from depression than Malay males (AOR: 0.305) and non-smokers. Higher-income Chinese displayed higher odds of having depression than lower-income Chinese (AOR: 1.009). Indians and others with secondary-level education displayed a lower likelihood of developing depression compared to those with primary-level education (AOR: 0.587). Conclusion: This study could contribute significantly to the formulation and development of an effective policy directed towards reducing the prevalence of depression in the vulnerable. These were the adults, in the younger age group, with lower education, with self-rated poor health, being female, unmarried, Malay and Chinese, and Indians and others. A nationwide policy targeted towards the Malay females to reduce their depression, with attention to the Chinese with a high income, and to the Indians and others with poor educational background to improve their knowledge of mental health, would be worthy of consideration.

Keywords: depression, ethnicity, gender, lifestyle, mental health

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Published

2019-05-15

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 1 (2019)

Section

Research article

License

All authors agree that the article, if editorially accepted for publication, shall be licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 to allow others to freely access, copy and use research provided the author is correctly attributed, unless otherwise stated. All articles are available online without charge or other barriers to access. However, anyone wishing to reproduce large quantities of an article (250+) should inform the publisher. Any opinion expressed in the articles are those of the authors and do not reflect that of the University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.