OBJECTIVES: To compare perceptions of the symptoms of depression and its management between members of three ethnic communities (descendants of Azoreans, Italians and Germans in Santa Catarina, which is a State in the South of Brazil) and to compare the expression of depressive symptoms via the Beck Depression Inventory. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, with both a quantitative and a qualitative design, 60 individuals (20 of each of the above ethnicities) were interviewed. A semi-structured interview was conducted, oriented by the following questions: In your opinion, what is depression?; How should persons cope with depression? and What is your preferred leisure time activity? After that, the subjects completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The BDI scores (subscales: cognitive/affective and somatic) were compared among the three groups using ANOVA. In the qualitative study, patterns of perceptions concerning depression were identified analyzing the responses of the individuals to the semi-structured interviews. RESULTS: The most frequent self-reported symptoms according to each ethnicity were: irritability (Azoreans), self-punishment (Italians) and low energy (Germans). There were no statistically significant differences between cognitive or somatic scores among the groups. The Azorean descendants suspected depression if the individuals evidenced social withdrawal ("... we don't want to see anybody"). For the Italian descendants, the family was cited as important in detecting ("Depression is feeling like leaving your son, your husband") and managing depression. The German descendants attributed depression to difficulty with work ("Depression is... not wanting to work") and work was also seen as the solution. CONCLUSIONS: According to ethnicity, the detection, expression of symptoms and search for treatment was related to: the community (Azoreans); the family (Italians) and work (Germans).
Depression; perception; culture; ethnicity; diagnosis
