Prevalence of Depression and Subjective Job Stress Among Men who have Sex with Men and Transgender Community Health Workers in Pakistan

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of depression, subjective work-related stress and associated factors among men who have sex with men and transgender people working in community-based organisations in Pakistan. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional descriptive study. Place and Duration of the Study: Community-based organisations in Lahore, October 2022. METHODOLOGY: Community-based organisations were contacted and link of the study tool in the Urdu language was shared. The study tool consisted of sociodemographic questions, substance abuse history, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) 9, the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE), and the Subjective job stress scale (SJSS). The composite score for each scale was calculated and compared. RESULTS: A total of 91 men participated in the study. Of them, 52.1% were below 30 years of age. The mean PHQ-9 score was 7.62 (range 0-27), mean GSE score was 32.38 (range 12-40), and mean SJSS score was 10.48 (4-14). While 41.7% of the participants were not depressed, 31.77% had depression of at least moderate severity. About 56.52% of the study participants had an SJSS score of more than ten showing a high level of work-related stress. CONCLUSION: There is a high frequency of depression among MSM and TG community health workers. High degree of self-efficacy may protect against depression. There is a need of developing comprehensive referral systems with psychiatric units for these community workers. KEY WORDS: Community health workers, Homosexual men, Transgender, Depression.