ABSTRACT
Objective Describe the prevalence of depressive disorders (mood disorders with current depressive episode) among individuals treated in general hospitals in Beijing. Methods 2877 outpatients and 2925 inpatients ≥15 years of age from 50 general hospitals (selected by stratified random sampling) were screened by trained psychiatric nurses using a depression screening instrument and then the gold standard diagnosis of all subjects screened positive and 10% of those screened negative was determined by a trained psychiatrist who used a semi-structured interview schedule based on American psychiatric diagnostic criteria (DSM-IV). Results The adjusted point prevalence, one-year prevalence, and lifetime prevalence of any type of depressive disorder were 5.23%, 5.72% and 8.22%, respectively; corresponding prevalences of major depressive disorder were 2.94%, 3.46%, and 5.32%, respectively. Conclusions The prevalence of depressive disorders among patients in general hospitals in Beijing is not significantly higher than in the general population in China.