Scientific production on depression in Quechua-speaking populations: a narrative review

Background: Quechua-speaking populations span seven Latin American countries and, due to their characteristics, require differentiated attention to depression. Objective: Describe the attention and scientific production on depression in Quechua-speaking populations. Method: Narrative review carried out with a search in PUBMED, WEB OF SCIENCE and SCOPUS, including studies in English and / or Spanish, the search strategy was developed with descriptors for depression and Quechua-speaking population, the search was carried out by two reviewers, who organized the search results in Microsoft Excel. Studies that considered depression and that have been studied in Quechua populations speaking any variant of Quechua were included. Results: 7 studies were found, the prevalence of depression in Quechua speakers was 38.9% in Ayacucho Peru and (4 of 7 studies) used psychometric instruments to evaluate depression. There is little research on depression in Quechua-speaking populations, they are mainly cross-sectional and the instrument used is valid only for a variant of Quechua. Conclusions: Little research was found in Quechua-speaking populations, the publications are mainly cross-sectional studies, and there are still no instruments adapted and validated for all variants of Quechua. Depressive symptoms seem to be greater especially in women. On the other hand, access to health care services is limited by the difficulties of acculturation, command of the language on the part of the health professional; as well as the stigma and ignorance of depression by this population.