Prevalence of depression symptoms among Tibetan Buddhist monastic science scholars in India

Abstract Background Depression is the largest contributing factor to global disability, and the translation and validation of depression screening instruments is vital toward understanding the prevalence of depression symptoms around the world. The aim of this study was to translate a widely used depression screening instrument, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), for use with Tibetan populations, and to explore the prevalence of depression symptoms in a population of Tibetan-speaking Buddhist monastic science scholars. Methods A total of 384 monastics (363 monks, 21 nuns) completed the Tibetan PHQ-9. We computed measures of internal consistency and conducted factor analysis to evaluate scale performance, and describe the prevalence of depression symptoms among the monastic population and subgroups. Results The Tibetan PHQ-9 had acceptable reliability and demonstrated a single-factor structure. While having low energy was the most commonly endorsed symptom, monastics did not have overall higher rates of other somatic symptoms. Over 10% of the monastics scored in the moderately severe to severe range, using standard diagnostic criteria cut-offs. First year monks had the highest mean score, and there was not a significant difference between monks and nuns. Conclusion These preliminary findings indicate that the Tibetan PHQ-9 is a reliable instrument for exploring and assessing depression symptoms and that it will be useful toward examining how symptoms are experience, interpreted, and communicated among Buddhist monastics.