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The British Journal of Psychiatry (2001) 179: 31-34
© 2001 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Seasonal affective disorder: prevalence, detection and current treatment in North Wales

ERIN E. MICHALAK, BSc

North Wales Section of the Department of General Practice, University of Wales College of Medicine

CLARE WILKINSON, FRCGP

North Wales Section of the Department of General Practice, University of Wales College of Medicine

CHRIS DOWRICK, FRCGP

Department of Primary Care, University of Liverpool

GREG WILKINSON, FRCPsych

Department of Psychiatry, University of Liverpool

Correspondence: Erin E. Michalak, North Wales Section of the Department of General Practice, Gwenfro Building, Wrexham Technology Park, Wrexham LL13 7YP

Declaration of interest Funded by the European Commission Biomed 2 Programme (Contract BMH-4-CT96-1681) and the Wales Office of Research and Development (Contract RC092).

Background There is a paucity of information concerning the prevalence and detection of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) in UK populations.

Aims To determine the prevalence, detection and current treatment of SAD within a general population sample.

Method The study was conducted in conjunction with the Outcomes of Depression International Network (ODIN) project, a large European study of depression. At the North Wales arm of the project, 1999 adults were randomly selected from a health authority database and screened by post for SAD with the Seasonal Patterns Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ). Those scoring above cut-off were offered diagnostic interview, after which diagnosis of SAD according to DSM-IV criteria could be made.

Results The prevalence rate of SAD was calculated to be 2.4% (95% CII.4-1.3). The majority of identified cases had not previously received a diagnosis of SAD from their general practitioner, although over half had been diagnosed with other forms of depression and had been prescribed antidepressant medication.

Conclusions Although SAD was found to be common in this general population sample it appeared to be largely underdiagnosed and/or misdiagnosed.


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