Depression in the community

DEPRESS (Depression Research in European Society) is the first large pan-European survey of depression in the community. A total of 13359 of the 78463 adults who participated in screening interviews across six countries were identified as suffering from depression, a 6-month prevalence of 17%. Major depression accounted for 6.9% of the cases of depression and minor depression for 1.8%. Depressed subjects in both these categories perceived that their working or social lives were substantially impaired by depressive symptoms. The remaining 8.3% of depressed subjects considered that their functional impairment was not substantial. A significant proportion of sufferers from depression (43%) failed to seek treatment for their depressive symptoms. Of those who did seek help (57%), most consulted a primary care physician, the frequency of consultation increasing with the severity of depression. Sufferers from major depression imposed the greatest demand on healthcare resources, making almost three times as many visits to their GP or family doctor as non-sufferers (4.4 vs 1.5 visits over 6 months). More than two-thirds of depressed subjects (69%) were not prescribed any treatment and when drug therapy was prescribed (31%), only 25% of these subjects were given antidepressant drugs. The number of days of work lost due to illness increased with the severity of depression. Major depression had most impact on productive work, with sufferers losing four times as many working days over 6 months as non-sufferers. The results of the DEPRES survey confirm the high prevalence of depression in the community and the burden imposed on the individual sufferer in terms of impaired quality of life and on society in terms of healthcare utilization and lost productivity.