Depressive disorders in Europe: prevalence figures from the ODIN study

Background This is the first report on the epidemiology of depressive disor ders from the European Outcome of Depression International Network (ODIN) s tudy. Aims To assess the prevalence of depressive disorders in randomly selected samples of the general population in five European countries. Method The study was designed as a cross-sectional two-phase community stud y using the Beck Depression Inventory during Phase 1, and the Schedule for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry during Phase 2. Results An analysis of the combined sample (n = 8.764) gave an overall prev alence of depressive disorders of 8.56% (95% CI 7.05-10.37). The figures we re 10.05% (95% CI 7.80-12.85) for women and 6.61% (95% CI 4.92-8.83) for me n. The centres fall into three categories: high prevalence (urban Ireland a nd urban UK), low prevalence (urban Spain) and medium prevalence (the remai ning sites). Conclusions Depressive disorder is a highly prevalent condition in Europe. The major finding is the wide difference in the prevalence of depressive di sorders found across the study sites.