A nationwide survey of seasonal affective disorder at 53 outpatient university clinics in Japan.
A nationwide survey of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) was performed from autumn 1990 to spring 1991 with the cooperation of 53 outpatient university psychiatric clinics in Japan. Forty-six SAD patients were identified among 5265 depressed outpatients. SAD was generally reported to occur in 1-3% of the depressed outpatients newly attending each facility. Hours of sunshine were found to be a more relevant variable influencing the prevalence of SAD than latitude or the mean temperature in December. The unexpectedly low percentage (20-30%) of SAD patients with atypical vegetative symptoms suggests that SAD patients who have no prior knowledge of SAD and those who are recruited via the media have different vegetative symptom profiles.
Sakamoto
K
K
Department of Psychiatry, Tokyo Women's Medical College, Japan.
Kamo
T
T
Nakadaira
S
S
Tamura
A
A
Takahashi
K
K
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory; D016574:Seasonal Affective Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D012621:Seasons; D013472:Sunlight