High levels of anxiety and depression in women farmers from Ecuador: A cross-section study in Coastal and Highlands regions

Background: Previous studies have shown that women farmers are particularly vulnerable to mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. Aims: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of anxiety and depression in women farmers from Ecuador Coastal and Highlands regions. Method: General Anxiety Disorder‑7 (GAD‑7) and Patient Health Questionnaire‑9 (PHQ‑9) were applied. In addition, self-reported number of children, days off, hours of work, pesticide use, sleep habits and years of work in agriculture, were also collected. This cross-sectional study occurred during 2023 with 443 women, for Coastal (197) and Highlands (246), respectively. Multivariable binary logistic regression models were performed to obtained adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results: 34.5% of Coastal women had depression, while 27.2% of Highlands women had depression. 20.3% of coastal women farmers had anxiety, while in the Highlands 24.8% had anxiety. Coastal mestizo and montubio women exhibited lower probability of depression, but this was not significant in the Highlands. Coastal women farmers that did not have children showed lower odds of depression (aOR 0.05, 95% CI [0.01, 0.34]). A lower likelihood of depression was observed in coastal women that worked more than 8 hours (aOR 0.22, 95% CI [0.07, 0.72]). Women from the Highlands that had shortened sleep duration exhibited lower odds of depression and anxiety. Conclusions: A higher proportion of depressed women farmers was observed in the Coast region and slightly higher numbers of anxiety cases in the Highlands. The number of children may cause workload and is correlated with depression in Coastal women.