Affective disorder amongst women in the general population: a longitudinal study.

This paper reports upon a longitudinal general population survey of psychiatric disorder among a sample of women in Edinburgh. The course and outcome of the identified disorders, defined according to the RDC, are described. In addition the report documents the consequence, for the description of episodes, of adopting a diagnostic scheme which embodies hierarchical and inter-episode interval rules. Estimates of disease rates per year revealed a period prevalence of RDC disorder of 25.2% (17.6% depressive and 7.6% anxiety disorder) and an RDC new episode inception rate of 12.6%. In spite of the evident nontrivial nature of these conditions, and of the extent to which they were found to endure, contact with the psychiatric services was found to be minimal.