OBJECTIVE: Data on the prevalence of depressive disorders in adolescents are scarce. We aimed to examine the administrative prevalence of depressive disorders and related comorbidities in German adolescents. A second objective of was to assess potential regional (East vs. West Germany) differences in depression prevalence. METHOD: Data of a statutory health insurance company were analysed and outpatients from 12 to 18 years of age with diagnosed depression during a one-year-period (2009) were identified. RESULTS: The population at risk consisted of 140,563 adolescents. Of these, 4,295 (41.2% male; mean age: 15.5 years) had a diagnosis of depression. This equates to a prevalence of 3.1% (females: 3.7%, males: 2.5%). There were no significant differences between East and West Germany. Of all adolescents with depression, 62.5% had at least one comorbid psychiatric diagnosis, with anxiety and emotional disorders (23.7%), somatoform disorders (16.8%), hyperkinetic disorders (16.2%) and posttraumatic stress disorder (10.0%) being most frequently diagnosed. CONCLUSIONS: The depression prevalence in this sample was lower than that in studies of clinical samples. There was a marked prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities, especially of internalizing disorders. In adolescents, the risk of depression seems to be comparable in both East and West Germany.
OBJECTIVE: Data on the prevalence of depressive disorders in adolescents are scarce. We aimed to examine the administrative prevalence of depressive disorders and related comorbidities in German adolescents. A second objective of was to assess potential regional (East vs. West Germany) differences in depression prevalence. METHOD: Data of a statutory health insurance company were analysed and outpatients from 12 to 18 years of age with diagnosed depression during a one-year-period (2009) were identified. RESULTS: The population at risk consisted of 140,563 adolescents. Of these, 4,295 (41.2% male; mean age: 15.5 years) had a diagnosis of depression. This equates to a prevalence of 3.1% (females: 3.7%, males: 2.5%). There were no significant differences between East and West Germany. Of all adolescents with depression, 62.5% had at least one comorbid psychiatric diagnosis, with anxiety and emotional disorders (23.7%), somatoform disorders (16.8%), hyperkinetic disorders (16.2%) and posttraumatic stress disorder (10.0%) being most frequently diagnosed. CONCLUSIONS: The depression prevalence in this sample was lower than that in studies of clinical samples. There was a marked prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities, especially of internalizing disorders. In adolescents, the risk of depression seems to be comparable in both East and West Germany.
Authors: Anke de Haan; Helene G Ganser; Annika Münzer; Andreas Witt; Lutz Goldbeck Journal: Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health Date: 2017-06-25 Impact factor: 3.033
Authors: Jan-Willem H Dik; Bhanu Sinha; Alex W Friedrich; Jerome R Lo-Ten-Foe; Ron Hendrix; Robin Köck; Bert Bijker; Maarten J Postma; Michael H Freitag; Gerd Glaeske; Falk Hoffmann Journal: Antimicrob Resist Infect Control Date: 2016-04-18 Impact factor: 4.887