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Stanford Sleep Epidemiology Journal Stanford Sleep Epidemiology Research Center (SSERC) Psy-EVAL Research
"Not
everything that can be counted counts,
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Summary by Maurice M. Ohayon, MD, DSc, PhD
Reference to cite: Ohayon MM, Priest RG, Guilleminault C, Caulet M. The prevalence of depressive disorders in the United Kingdom. Biol Psychiatry 1999; 45:300-7.
Major depressive disorders are estimated to occur at rates of 2% to 6% in the general population of the USA and Western Europe (1-6)
Variations in prevalence estimates are due partly to the time frame used (previous year or previous month basis) and to the diagnostic instruments employed (DIS, UM-CIDI, CIS-R).
Major Depressive Disorder is one of the most common of mental disorders.
It is the second most common cause of disability in industrial countries.
In our studies, the point prevalence of a DSM-IV Major Depressive Episode (4.3%) is comparable to the one-month prevalence reported in the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) (4.9%).
When we excluded the individuals with substance abuse or dependence, bipolar disorders or non-affective psychosis,
the prevalence of a Major Depressive Episode dropped to 2.4%, which is close to the 2.2% of the Epidemiological Catchment Area (ECA) rate
and close also to the 2.1% rate of “pure episode” of Major Depression reported in the NCS study.
Content of this page is extracted from Ohayon MM, Priest RG, Guilleminault C, Caulet M. The prevalence of depressive disorders in the United Kingdom. Biol Psychiatry 1999; 45:300-7.
Medical & Psychiatric Correlates
Smoking is positively related to difficulties
in initiating sleep and estimated sleep latency.
Although often
reported in clinical studies, the association between the use of
antihypertensive drugs and insomnia was seldom reported in
epidemiological studies.
On sleep patterns, alcohol at bedtime accelerates the sleep onset, increases
the amount of slow-wave sleep, decreases the amount of REM sleep and causes
sleep disruption in the second half of the sleep period.
About
four out of 10 insomnia subjects medicate themselves with
over-the-counter medications or alcohol.
Other medications,
such as serotonergic reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), some neuroleptics,
some antiparkinsonians and amphetamines may all provoke insomnia among
patients using these kinds of medications. Hypnotics and anxiolytics
may cause insomnia
Waking up with a headache is traditionally associated with sleep disorders
Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome
is an independent risk factor (odds ratio: 9.7) for hypertension.
Snoring and breathing pauses during sleep appeared to be
non-significant predictive factors.
Surprisingly, few studies have
attempted to determine if a comorbid medical condition in individuals with
chronic painful physical disease increased the likelihood of having a major
depressive disorder
Depression with Psychotic Features
There are little data regarding the prevalence of associated psychotic features in subjects with major depressive disorders in the general population
Sleep Apnea
and Depression
Some clinical studies have attempted to
determine whether depression limits the recognition and treatment of
breathing-related sleep disorders, or if breathing-related sleep disorders play
a role in the etiology or course of depressive disorder
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