THE PREVALENCE OF AFFECTIVE AND ANXIETY DISORDERS IN PRIMARY-CARE PRACTICE IN HUNGARY

The lifetime and point prevalence of affective and anxiety disorders w ere investigated with the aid of the DIS questionnaire in 15 primary c are practices among patients aged 18 to 60. According to the DSM-III-R criteria, 43% of the eligible 301 patients had had some kind of affec tive or anxiety disorder till the time of the assessment. Major depres sion was found to be the most common lifetime diagnosis (18%). At the time of the investigation 15% of the patients were suffering from affe ctive or anxiety disorder (point prevalence) calling for clinical ther apy. Females had significantly higher numbers of lifetime and point di agnoses of affective and anxiety disorders. Sixty percent of patients failed to report psychiatric complaints to their doctor, and in social phobia this figure was as high as 87%. Our results are in accordance with international findings and underline the need to diagnose and tre at psychiatric patients already at the stags of the primary care servi ce. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.