DEPRESSIVE-DISORDERS IN 3 PRIMARY-CARE POPULATIONS - UNITED-STATES, ISRAEL, JAPAN

Primary care patients in the United States, Israel and Japan received the Inventory to Diagnose Depression and the Dartmouth COOP Functional Status Charts modified for international use. Patients were classifie d as having major depressive disorder or minor depression. Although. d emographic characteristics varied by country, the rank order and frequ ency of the depressive symptoms were similar for both major and minor depression. Functional impairment was most severe in patients with maj or depression, less severe in those with minor depression and was leas t impaired in those not depressed. The results suggest that depressive disorders have similar presentations in the three countries studied, although the separate cultures confer different consequences on patien ts receiving these diagnoses.