title: Depressive symptomatology and short-term stability at a Nigerian psychiatric care facility.
abstract: The aims of the study were to examine: the frequency of the subtypes and symptoms of depression, the stability of symptoms in 3 months and to compare the data with previous studies. Ninety-six consecutive patients (31 males, 65 females) fulfilling ICD-10 criteria were assessed. Compared with the WHO study, the core symptoms of depression were similar; pathological guilt and suicidal behaviour were less prevalent, and psychoticism was more prevalent. Overall, 61.5% had severe depression, 64.6% had somatic syndrome, and subjects were in remission at follow-up. The results were similar to those of a report from the hospital 26 years earlier. The purported rarity of guilt, self-depreciation, suicide and psychotic symptoms should not imply rarity of severe depression among Africans; for these are not its commonest symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Hospital, Uselu, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
authors.forename: D I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Otote
authors.forename: J U
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Ohaeri
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D010054:Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003710:Demography; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006760:Hospitalization; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors