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Association Between Females and Males in the Prevalence of Depression in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2024

Mitha Al Balushi ,
Syed Javaid ,
Fatima Al Maskari ,
Shamil Wanigaratne  and
Amar Ahmad
Mitha Al Balushi
Affiliation:
Public Health Research Center, New York University-Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Alain, United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Syed Javaid*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Fatima Al Maskari
Affiliation:
Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Alain, United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Shamil Wanigaratne
Affiliation:
King's College London, London, United Kingdom
Amar Ahmad
Affiliation:
Public Health Research Center, New York University-Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE
*
*Presenting author.
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Abstract

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Aims

In most populations, the prevalence of depression is more significant in women than in men. Nonetheless, the degree of gender disparity varies significantly across countries. The aim of this study is to consider the role of gender inequality in explaining these differences in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Methods

Data on the ecological prevalence of depression (males versus females) from 1990–2019 from the GCC countries were downloaded from Our World in Data and included in the statistical analysis. A mixed-effects linear model was used to examine the association between males and females, i.e. females regress on males. Year and country variables were used as random effect variables.

Results

The prevalence of depression in the GCC countries shows a gender-specific pattern with a higher prevalence in females than in males 1.218 (95% CI: 1.149–1.285), p-value < 0.001. Higher levels of depression between men and women were observed in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia compared with the other four countries. The lowest depression prevalence was observed in the United Arab Emirates.

Conclusion

The pattern of depression in the GCC countries is based on gender. However, the association between global measures of gender inequality and the gender gap in depression may depend on how the level of depression is measured. More research is needed to investigate the mechanisms that underlie the gendered nature of depression prevalence.

Type
1 Research
Information
BJPsych Open , Volume 10 , Supplement S1: Abstracts from the RCPsych International Congress 2024, 17–20 June , June 2024 , pp. S49
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal College of Psychiatrists

Footnotes

Abstracts were reviewed by the RCPsych Academic Faculty rather than by the standard BJPsych Open peer review process and should not be quoted as peer-reviewed by BJPsych Open in any subsequent publication.

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