Depressive symptoms and depressive diagnoses in a community population. Use of a new procedure for analysis of psychiatric classification

D. Blazer, M. Swartz, M. Woodbury, K. G. Manton, D. Hughes and L. K. George
Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710.

A multivariate classification technique was used to examine whether depressive symptoms and symptoms frequently associated with depressive disorders would cluster into recognizable syndromes that parallel traditional DSM-III psychiatric diagnoses. An analysis was made of all respondents in the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) project of the Piedmont region of North Carolina who reported suffering from depressive symptoms (n = 406) at the second wave of the ECA study. The analysis identified five profiles of symptoms that adequately described the interrelationships of the symptoms as reported in the population. One profile included a set of symptoms nearly identical to the symptoms associated with the DSM-III classification of major depression. Other depressive syndromes emerged and included a premenstrual syndrome among younger women and a mixed anxiety/depression syndrome. The existence of these other depressive syndromes may explain the present discrepancy in the epidemiologic literature between a high prevalence of depressive symptoms and a low prevalence of traditional depressive diagnoses in community populations.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Higher Burden of Depression Among Older Women: The Effect of Onset, Persistence, and Mortality Over Time
Barry et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2008;65:172-178.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Longitudinal Research to Promote Effective Refugee Resettlement
Beiser
Transcultural Psychiatry 2006;43:56-71.
ABSTRACT  

An 8-Week Multicenter, Parallel-Group, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of Sertraline in Elderly Outpatients With Major Depression
Schneider et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2003;160:1277-1285.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Depression in Late Life: Review and Commentary
Blazer
J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. 2003;58:M249-265.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Prevalence of Depression and Its Treatment in an Elderly Population: The Cache County Study
Steffens et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2000;57:601-607.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Somatization Reconsidered: Incorporating the Patient's Experience of Illness
Epstein et al.
Arch Intern Med 1999;159:215-222.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Relationship of Depression to Cardiovascular Disease: Epidemiology, Biology, and Treatment
Musselman et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1998;55:580-592.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Psychiatric Care and Social Support for People with Long-Term Mental Illness in Sweden
Brinck
International Journal of Social Psychiatry 1994;40:258-268.
 

Changes in Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms in Alameda County: Age, Period, and Cohort Trends
Roberts et al.
J Aging Health 1991;3:66-86.
ABSTRACT