Subthreshold syndromes of depression and anxiety in the community

J Clin Psychiatry. 1997:58 Suppl 8:6-10.

Abstract

Nearly 50% of individuals in the community meet threshold or subthreshold diagnostic criteria for depression or anxiety, with depression being far more common. Co-occurrence of anxiety and depression is common, as the majority of individuals who experience anxiety also manifest threshold- or subthreshold-level depression. In the current study, addition of subthreshold categories improved the coverage of treated cases in the community by nearly a third; 61% of subjects were diagnosed according to threshold criteria while 89% were diagnosed according to subthreshold categories. These results suggest that inclusion of subthreshold-level syndromes enhances the validity of diagnostic systems by increasing the proportion of treated cases that meet diagnostic criteria and by providing a more accurate representation of milder syndromes of depression and anxiety.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Anxiety Disorders / classification*
  • Anxiety Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Anxiety Disorders / epidemiology
  • Cohort Studies
  • Comorbidity
  • Depressive Disorder / classification*
  • Depressive Disorder / diagnosis*
  • Depressive Disorder / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Odds Ratio
  • Prevalence
  • Primary Health Care
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / statistics & numerical data
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sex Distribution
  • Switzerland / epidemiology
  • Terminology as Topic