NSG 4055 Week 1 project Introduction

NSG 4055 Week 1 project Introduction

Morbidity and Comorbidity

Major depression in adults is reported to be a critical public health concern in not only the US but also other global states too. The global risk of developing major depression is reported to be between 15 and 18%. Major depression is associated with adverse effects that include the lowering of the psychosocial functioning as well as quality of life of the affected populations. The existing evidence shows an increased interconnectedness of depression with other health problems. Accordingly, the risk of patients experiencing other health problems that include anxiety and substance abuse disorders is high in those diagnosed with depression. Patients diagnosed with depression have about 50-60% risk of developing at least one anxiety disorder. There is also the high risk that 14% of the adults with major depression are likely to be diagnosed with alcohol use disorder while 4.6% of them have drug use disorder. The lifetime prevalence of alcohol abuse disorder is reported to be 40% and 17% for drug use disorder (Steffen et al., 2020). There is also the evidence that depression is an independent risk factor as well as negative prognostic factor for somatic disorders that include cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disorders, hypertension and arthritis (Gutiérrez-Rojas et al., 2020). Due to the above comorbidities, diabetes is linked to poor quality of life, higher functional impairment as well as disability, higher medical costs, increased utilization of care services, worse course of disability, and enhanced risk for mortality.

According to Baldessarini et al. (2017), morbidity in depressive disorders is significantly high. The high rate morbidity can be seen from the fact that up to 50% of the patients with major depressive disorders experience illnesses even after their discharge from the hospital. The high rate of morbidity is attributed to a number of risk factors. They include recurring manic depressive states and predominance of depression that cause inferior response to treatment and outcomes. In addition, patients may present with depression with mixed features, which has been associated with poor response to recommended treatments such as the use of antidepressants. Treatment interventions such as rapid cycling may also increase the risk of morbidity due to reduced efficacy of medications in stabilizing mood and un-sustained therapeutic effectiveness of antidepressants (Baldessarini et al., 2017). Therefore, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners should be aware of the risk factors for morbidity for them to adopt favorable interventions that will optimize the care outcomes of the patients.

Impact of the Chronic Illness

Depression in adults is associated with a number of adverse health impacts. Depression is estimated to affect one in every five people in the world, making it among the conditions with high prevalence and incidence rate. The prevalence of depression among adults in not only the USA but also globally makes it the leading cause of disability across the world (Filatova et al., 2021). The impacts of major depression on the population is reported to be higher than that seen in conditions that include rheumatoid arthritis, coronary heart disease, and diabetes mellitus (Gutiérrez-Rojas et al., 2020). Major depression is also associated with significant impairment in psychosocial functioning in the affected populations and their significant others. The impairment in psychosocial functioning is seen in the inability of the patients to engage in their daily social and occupational roles. There is also the fact that patients’ experience diminishes in the quality of life due to the effects of depression. The decline in the quality of life is attributed to the loss of productivity and independence in the society (Malhi & Mann, 2018). Patients and their significant others also suffer from the economic burden of depression management. The economic burden of depression is largely attributed to the increased need for hospital visits and hospitalization for the management of depression symptoms (Malhi & Mann, 2018). Greenberg et al., (2021) showed in their study that the economic burden of adults suffering from major depression rose by 37.9% ($US 236.6 billion) in 2010 to 326.2 billion in 2020. The increase could be seen in different variables of depression management that included direct costs, workplace costs, and suicide-related costs (Greenberg et al., 2021). According to Armbrecht et al. (2021), adults with major depression in the US suffer from adverse health effects of the disease that include increased per patient inpatient visits on an annual basis, office visits, annual drug costs, total medical costs, and emergency department visits. Whe

n combined, the above effects have a significant psychosocial toll on the patients, hence, a