Frequency of anxiety disorders in psychiatric outpatients with major depressive disorder.
OBJECTIVE
The authors determined the frequency of anxiety disorders in a large group of depressed outpatients seeking treatment.


METHODS
The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV was administered to 373 depressed outpatients.


RESULTS
More than one-half of the patients met the full criteria for a current anxiety disorder, and more than one-half of the patients with an anxiety disorder had more than one. When partial remissions and anxiety disorder diagnoses classified as "not otherwise specified" were included, two-thirds of the patients had a current anxiety disorder and three-quarters had a lifetime history of an anxiety disorder.


CONCLUSIONS
The majority of patients with a principal diagnosis of unipolar major depressive disorder have a comorbid anxiety disorder. Because antidepressant medications have differential efficacies for anxiety disorders, knowledge of the presence of a comorbid anxiety disorder in a depressed patient may have treatment implications.
Department fo Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University School of Medicine, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence 02905, USA. MZimmerman@Lifespan.org
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Zimmerman
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McDermut
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Mattia
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012237:Rhode Island / Q000453:epidemiology