Social phobia and depression: prevalence and comorbidity.
BACKGROUND
Social phobia may seriously impair the functioning of affected individuals. It is frequently associated with other mental disorders.


OBJECTIVE
To estimate the co-occurrence of social phobia with major depressive disorder (MDD) and to analyze their interaction.


METHODS
Subjects were 18,980 individuals, aged 15 years or older, representative of the general population of the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal, who were interviewed by telephone. DSM-IV diagnoses were made with the Sleep-EVAL system.


RESULTS
The point prevalence for social phobia was 4.4% (95% confidence interval: 4.1-4.7%) of the sample. It was higher in women (odds ratio: 1.6) and decreased with age. MDDs were found in 19.5% of participants with social phobia. Co-occurrence of another anxiety disorder was high and increased when a MDD was present (65.2%). The odds of developing a major depressive episode 2 years after the appearance of the social phobia was of 5.74.


CONCLUSIONS
Social phobia is highly prevalent in the general population. It increases the risk of developing a MDD and has a high comorbidity with other mental disorders. Social phobia is often present in the course of depression, more obviously during remission period of MDD. Physicians must explore and treat more systematically this frequent pathology.
Ohayon
Maurice M
MM
Stanford Sleep Epidemiology Research Center, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94303, USA. mohayon@stanford.edu
Schatzberg
Alan F
AF
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015897:Comorbidity; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D055815:Young Adult