[Seasonal affective depression in 2 German speaking university centers: Bonn, Vienna. Clinical and demographic characteristics].
Six hundred ten patients with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) were diagnosed and treated at the university hospitals for psychiatry in Bonn, Germany (1989-1992) and Vienna, Austria (1993-2001). The aim of this study was to compare our sample with other SAD populations in the literature and to investigate differences between the two study locations. We found female:male sex ratios of 5.0:1.0 in unipolar depressives and 1.5:1.0 in patients with bipolar affective disorder. Of our patients, 21.7% suffered from bipolar II disorder, and 1.3% were diagnosed as having bipolar I. Our patients obtained a mean global seasonality score (GSS) of 15.4. Women had a higher GSS than men (t = 2.127, P = 0.035), and Viennese patients had higher scores than patients in Bonn (t = 3.104, P = 0.002). Totals of 66.3% of all patients suffered from atypical depression and 17.8% from melancholic depression. Patients with atypical depression were more frequent in Vienna, whereas patients with melancholic depression predominated in Bonn (chi 2 = 54.952, df = 2, P < 0.001). The demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients described in this article confirm the findings of other epidemiological investigations obtained in non-German-speaking samples.
Winkler
D
D
Klinische Abteilung für Allgemeine Psychiatrie, Universität Wien.
Praschak-Rieder
N
N
Willeit
M
M
Lucht
M J
MJ
Hilger
E
E
Konstantinidis
A
A
Stastny
J
J
Thierry
N
N
Pjrek
E
E
Neumeister
A
A
Möller
H J
HJ
Kasper
S
S
D000328:Adult; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010789:Phototherapy; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016574:Seasonal Affective Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology
D000928:Antidepressive Agents