The British Journal of Psychiatry 148: 176-186 (1986)
© 1986 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Affective disorder amongst women in the general population: a longitudinal study
PG Surtees, SP Sashidharan and C Dean
This paper reports upon a longitudinal general population survey of
psychiatric disorder among a sample of women in Edinburgh. The course and
outcome of the identified disorders, defined according to the RDC, are
described. In addition the report documents the consequence, for the
description of episodes, of adopting a diagnostic scheme which embodies
hierarchical and inter-episode interval rules. Estimates of disease rates
per year revealed a period prevalence of RDC disorder of 25.2% (17.6%
depressive and 7.6% anxiety disorder) and an RDC new episode inception rate
of 12.6%. In spite of the evident nontrivial nature of these conditions,
and of the extent to which they were found to endure, contact with the
psychiatric services was found to be minimal.