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.