Depressive symptoms and associated factors among seamen undertaking international voyage

Objective To examine the status of depressive symptoms and its impact factors among the seamen engaged in international voyage.Methods By using cluster sampling,we recruited 719 Chinese seamen who came from international voyage ships anchored in Nantong and Rugao port and had entry-exit physical examination and vaccination in Nantong International Travel Health Care Center during April to December of 2012. A face-to-face interview was conducted among the seamen with a self-designed questionnaire and Self-Rating Depression Scale(SDS). Chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression were used in data analyses.Results Of the seamen,354(49.24%)had no depressive symptoms,whereas 167(23.23%),186(25.87%),and 12(1.67%)had mild,moderate,and severe depressive symptoms,respectively. Multivariate logistic regressions showed that with the education of college and above(odds ratioOR=0.482)or undergraduate(OR=0.396),having sleeping time of 8 to 9 hours(OR=0.50)or more than 10 hours(OR=0.193)were the protective factors of depressive symptoms;having leisure activities of 8 to 14 hours(OR=2.846)or less than 7 hours(OR=1.393)per week,with an ordinary(OR=2.642)or bad(OR=3.477)self-reported health status were the risk factors.Conclusion Depression symptom is a serious problem and is mainly affected by educational level,sleeping time,the time of weekly leisure activity,and self-reported health among the seamen undertaking international voyage.