SINGAPORE, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's Institute of Mental Health (IMH) has launched a nationwide longitudinal study involving approximately 3,200 individuals to investigate factors that may prevent depression or alter its course among those affected.
The participants, aged between 18 and 75, include individuals diagnosed with depression, subsyndromal depression, or no depression at all. They will be followed over five years, with data collected at six time points, namely at the start of the study and then once annually, said the institute, which is part of Singapore's National Healthcare Group (NHG), in a statement on Tuesday.
The study will examine how a range of risk and protective factors influence depressive symptoms. These include biological factors, psychological factors that affect thoughts, emotions and behaviors, as well as social factors.
This marks the NHG's first comprehensive longitudinal study on depression. Previous research efforts were cross-sectional, collecting data at a single point in time. While such studies can reveal associations between various factors and depression, they do not establish causal or bi-directional relationships.
The findings are expected to help care professionals design targeted interventions and effective preventive strategies, the institute said.
"If we can design appropriate interventions to mitigate the risks they are exposed to, we hope that one day, we would be able to prevent the onset of depression or change the illness trajectory for better outcomes," said Mythily Subramaniam, the study's lead investigator.
Depression is the most common mental health condition in Singapore, with 6.3 percent of the adult population having experienced it at some point in their lives, according to the institute. ■
