Depression in the community: results of the first Italian survey

The 6-month prevalence of depression in the Italian community was evaluated by means of the modified-Mini-International-Neuropsychiatric Interview (MI NI) administered with a computer-prompted interview to a representative pan el of 3550 individuals. Major depression and minor depression accounted for 8.0% and 2.9% of the cases, respectively. Major depression was 1.3 times a s prevalent in females (compared to males), while minor depression was 1.6 times as prevalent in males, Prevalence of major depression was maximal (11 .9%) in subjects aged 30-49 years, and minimal (4.1%) in subjects aged 60 y ears or older. These results confirm prevalence figures for depression in t he community reported with the modified-MINI for other European countries, and support the use of telematic data acquisition for health-related genera l population surveys. Int Clin Psychopharmacol 16:49-53 (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.