Prevalence of depressive symptoms among patients attending a general outpatient clinic.

Using both the English version and an Igbo translation of Zung's Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), 132 first-time attenders to a hospital-based general outpatient clinic were screened for presence of depressive symptoms. The mean SDS index obtained for the whole sample fell within the normal range. However, a prevalence rate of 25% for depressive symptoms was obtained. 14% scored within the range for "mild depression", while 11% obtained scores within the range for "moderate depression". Only three patients were referred to the psychiatric outpatient clinic of the same hospital. The need for general physicians to be able to recognise the presence and significance of psychological symptoms in their patients is emphasized.