INTRODUCTION: the prevalence of depressive disorders in the female population in Porto Alegre was estimated to be 14.5%. There are no reports on the prevalence of depressive symptoms or depressive disorders among prostitutes that are a group at risk for mental disorders. OBJECTIVES: the main purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of depressive symptoms and to identify associated factors in a sample of Porto Alegre prostitutes. MATERIAL AND METHODS: a consecutive and non-randomized sample of 97 women between 18 and 60 years, registered at a non-governmental organization in Porto Alegre was studied using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) after informed consent. A cut off point equal or higher then 13 was used to detect depressive symptoms RESULTS: the mean age (±SD) was 29.6 (8,5), depressive symptoms (cut off³ 13) were noted in 67% of the sample, the mean score (±SD) of BDI was 19.1 (10.9). The depressive symptoms were found to be mild in 24.7%, moderate in 40.2% and severe in 7.2% of the sample. A statistically significant association was found between depressive symptoms and use of alcohol, and sexually-transmitted diseases, and lack of religious practices (p<0,05). CONCLUSION: besides the high prevalence of depressive symptoms (67%) 47.4% of the women studied presented moderate or severe levels of depression. Use of alcohol, and sexually-transmitted diseases and lack of religious practices were associated with depressive symptoms in the studied sample.
Prostitution; depression; depressive disorders
