MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER IN TAIWAN DEFINED BY THE CHINESE DIAGNOSTICINTERVIEW SCHEDULE

The lifetime prevalence rate of major depressive disorder (MDD), as de fined by the Chinese Diagnostic Interview Schedule, is 1.14% in Taiwan . This is significantly lower than the lifetime prevalence rates repor ted in Western studies and similar to other studies in the Chinese pop ulation using similar methods for assessing cases of MDD. Epidemiologi cal data from 136 MDD cases were analyzed to provide possible explanat ions for this difference in lifetime prevalence rates. The low rate of broken families in Chinese culture, low comorbidity rate, and older a ge of onset of MDD may suggest a reality of low lifetime prevalence ra tes of MDD in Taiwan.