Frequency of anxiety disorders in psychiatric outpatients with major depressive disorder

Objective: The authors determined the frequency of anxiety disorders in a l arge group of depressed outpatients seeking treatment. Method: The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV was administered to 37 3 depressed outpatients. Results: More than one-half of the patients met the full criteria for a cur rent anxiety disorder, and more than one-half of the patients with an anxie ty disorder had more than one. When partial remissions and anxiety disorder diagnoses classified as "not otherwise specified" were included, two-third s of the patients had a current anxiety disorder and three-quarters had a l ifetime history of an anxiety disorder. Conclusions: The majority of patients with a principal diagnosis of unipola r major depressive disorder have a comorbid anxiety disorder. Because antid epressant medications have differential efficacies for anxiety disorders, k nowledge of the presence of a comorbid anxiety disorder in a depressed pati ent may have treatment implications.