The Prevalence of Depression and Its Association with Self-Management Behaviors in Chronic Disease Patients

background: co-morbid depression in patients with chronic disease is associated with weak self-care and high complications. objective: the study aimed to determine the relationship of self-care behaviors and the kind of chronic disease with depression in adults with chronic disease in isfahan, iran. methods: this cross-sectional study was conducted in government healthcare centers. a total of 483 eligible consent respondents participated from march 2015 to june 2015. the “stanford self-management questionnaire” and the patient health questionnaire (phq-9) were used for the assessment of self-management behaviors and depression. data were analyzed using the spss 17 software. results: the prevalence of depression in participants was 14.7%. there was a significant relationship between self-management behaviors such as physical activity (p < 0.05) and medication adherence (p < 0.001), and depression. the risk of depression was greater in rheumatoid arthritis disease patients (or = 4.41, 95% ci (0.47 - 5.38), p > 0.001) and skeletal disease patients (or = 1.70, 95% ci (1.03 - 2.77), p < 0.05) than in other chronic disease patients. conclusions:we found a negative association between depression and self-care activities in iranian patients with chronic diseases. psychological treatment for depression should be considered to improve the prognosis of chronic diseases.