Epidemiology: Prevalence and Incidence of Depression and Heart Disease

EPIDEMIOLOGY
STUDENT ID:
[Pick the date]

Question 1
a) Point Prevalence of depression at beginning of 2017 (per 1000 population) = (Existing
cases at start of 2017/ Population at start of 2017)*1000 (Rothman, 2015).
Using the above formula, the point prevalence of depression at 2017 beginning (per 1000
population) is indicated below.
Point Prevalence of Depression at 2017 start (per 1000 population) for Males =
(970/19530)*1000 = 49.7
Point Prevalence of Depression at 2017 start (per 1000 population) for Females =
(1906/21590)*1000 = 88.3
It is evident from the above computation that prevalence of depression is significantly higher
in females as compared to males which is in line with the available literature. With regards
age wise distribution, an opposite pattern is seen in the two genders. For males, the
prevalence of depression tends to increase with increasing age. On the contrary, for females,
the prevalence of depression tends to decline with increasing age.
b) Incidence risk for depression (per 1000 population) = (New episodes in 2017/Healthy
population at the beginning of 2017)*1000 (Kestenbaum, 2013)
Population at risk at the beginning of 2017 = Population at the start of 2017 – Existing cases
at the start of 2017
This is computed below.

The Incidence risk for depression (per 1000 population) is computed below.
From the above, it is apparent that the incidence risk is higher for females in comparison with
males. This is because it is expected that 13.7 males out of 1000 healthy males would become
patient of depression as against 21.7 females out of 1000 healthy females. With regards to the
age, both genders tend to show a similar pattern with regards to incidence risk. The incidence
risk tends to get lower with age for both the genders but for every age group females are at a
significantly higher risk in comparison with males (Olsen, Christensen, Murray & Ekbom,
2014).
c) The results above clearly highlight which the point prevalence of depression is quite
substantial especially in females. However, the more worrying aspect is the incidence risk
which projects a grim picture whereby in the future the point prevalence of depression is
expected to worsen up. It is essential the proactive measures need to be undertaken in order to
reduce the incidence of depression especially in young population i.e. lesser than 30 years.
Further, the key focus should be women where the point prevalence rates at the starting of
2018 would exceed more than 11% (Kestenbaum, 2013)
Question 2
a) The prevalence of heart disease based on the given information needs to be computed.
i) Prevalence of heart disease for females (per 1000 population) = (199/3941)*1000 = 50.5