{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T07:21:49Z","timestamp":1777447309810,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,9]],"date-time":"2019-07-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1562630400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100010269","name":"Wellcome Trust","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["201900"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["201900"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100010269","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["TropicalMed"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Evidence is emerging that shows elevated mental distress and disorder amongst people with several neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). This study aimed to establish the prevalence of depressive symptoms amongst people with podoconiosis and lower limb lymphoedema of other cause in Cameroon. The study was part of a larger research piece that mapped the geographical distribution of podoconiosis in Cameroon. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9; mean) was employed to determine the prevalence of depressive symptoms amongst people with lower limb lymphoedema. Linear regression was used to assess the association between socio-demographic characteristics of participants and depressive symptoms. Internal consistency of the PHQ-9 was estimated through Cronbach\u2019s alpha (\u03b1 = 0.651). The mean PHQ-9 score among people with lower limb lymphoedema was 3.48 (SD \u00b1 3.25). Using a PHQ-9 score of 5 or above as the cut-off score, 32 participants (38.6%) displayed at least mild depressive symptoms. Unemployment was the only factor that was significantly associated with more depressive symptoms overall. This study shows that depressive symptoms are common amongst people with lower limb lymphoedema in Cameroon. The findings provide support for the integration of psychosocial interventions into packages of care for the management of lower limb lymphoedema.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/tropicalmed4030102","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,10]],"date-time":"2019-07-10T03:05:26Z","timestamp":1562727926000},"page":"102","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["Depressive Symptoms Amongst People with Podoconiosis and Lower Limb Lymphoedema of Other Cause in Cameroon: A Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"4","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0366-1093","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maya","family":"Semrau","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Global Health Research, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton BN1 9PS, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2796-7468","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gail","family":"Davey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Global Health Research, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton BN1 9PS, UK"},{"name":"School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 9086, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Amuam Andrew","family":"Beng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Parasites and Vector Biology research unit (PAVBRU), Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Buea, P.O. Box 63, Buea, Cameroon"},{"name":"Cameroon and Research Foundation for Tropical Diseases and the Environment (REFOTDE), P.O. Box 63, Buea, Cameroon"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4678-3640","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Winston Patrick Chounna","family":"Ndongmo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Parasites and Vector Biology research unit (PAVBRU), Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Buea, P.O. Box 63, Buea, Cameroon"},{"name":"Cameroon and Research Foundation for Tropical Diseases and the Environment (REFOTDE), P.O. Box 63, Buea, Cameroon"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6336-6160","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abdel Jelil","family":"Njouendou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Parasites and Vector Biology research unit (PAVBRU), Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Buea, P.O. Box 63, Buea, Cameroon"},{"name":"Cameroon and Research Foundation for Tropical Diseases and the Environment (REFOTDE), P.O. Box 63, Buea, Cameroon"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Samuel","family":"Wanji","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Parasites and Vector Biology research unit (PAVBRU), Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Buea, P.O. Box 63, Buea, Cameroon"},{"name":"Cameroon and Research Foundation for Tropical Diseases and the Environment (REFOTDE), P.O. 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