Clinical aspects of depression in general medicine patients Aspectos clinicos de la depresion en pacientes de medicina general.

Abstract

The prevalence and clinical characteristics of depression were studied in 110 randomly chosen patients attending a general medicine outpatient facility. Two psychiatrists evaluated depression according to DSM-III-R criteria and measured the intensity of depression using the Hamilton scale. 25 cases were diagnosed as Mood disorders and 8 as Adaptative disorders. Depression was minor in all cases. Anxiety and somatic complaints were the main symptoms. The influence of the classification system used, demographic and seasonal factors are discussed.