Depression prevalence in urban Indonesia: A preliminary study of the Makassar general population

The prevalence of depression in South Sulawesi has been reported to exceed the national average. This preliminary study investigated the prevalence of depression in Makassar, the capital city of South Sulawesi. A total of 64 volunteers from the general population were enrolled for cross-sectional observational study using convenience sampling. The CES-D questionnaire was used to assess depressive symptoms, and sociodemographic data were also collected. The main analysis was conducted using a generalized linear model (GLM). The results showed that the mean CES-D score was 16.34 ± 10.30, and the prevalence of screen-positive mild-to-severe depressive symptoms was 65.6%. CES-D scores varied significantly by age (p = 0.026), ethnicity (p = 0.004), and education (p = 0.041). However, in the multivariate analysis, ethnicity remained statistically associated with depressive symptoms, with participants of Makassar ethnicity observed to report lower levels of depressive symptoms compared with other ethnic groups. This preliminary finding may suggest a context-specific association between cultural identity and lower depression scores. These findings provide preliminary information that requires further investigation through large-scale observational studies to examine the association between ethnicity and depression, particularly in urban settings characterized by emerging multiethnic identities.