Seasonal affective disorder among primary care consulters in January: Prevalence and month by month consultation patterns

• Published in: Journal of affective disorders 1998-04, Vol.49 (1), p.1-8
• Main Authors: Eagles, John M, Naji, Simon A, Gray, Douglas A, Christie, Jane, Beattie, James A.G
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; Consultations; Depression; Female; Health Care Surveys; Humans; Male; Mass Screening - statistics & numerical data; Matched-Pair Analysis; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mood disorders; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - statistics & numerical data; Prevalence; Primary care; Primary Health Care - statistics & numerical data; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Scotland - epidemiology; Seasonal affective disorder; Seasonal Affective Disorder - epidemiology; Seasons
• ISSN: 0165-0327; 1573-2517
• DOI: 10.1016/S0165-0327(97)00177-8

Background: Little is known about the prevalence or the consultation patterns of patients with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) in primary care settings. Methods: Patients aged 16–64 years consulting a general practitioner (G.P.) during a three week period in January were screened with the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ). Interview-confirmed cases of SAD ( N=33) were matched by age and sex to controls without seasonal morbidity and primary care consultation patterns were compared over a 5 year period. Results: Of 692 patients screened, 64 (9.3%) satisfied SPAQ criteria for winter SAD. Patients with SAD showed no winter excess of consultations but were high year round consulters, averaging 1.8 times more consultations than controls. Conclusions: High levels of SAD caseness on the SPAQ were found among patients consulting in primary care during January. Possible explanations for the high non-seasonal consultation patterns among SAD patients include somatisation and diagnostic inaccuracies. Limitations: Diagnostic criteria for SAD, and the SPAQ in particular, may be over-inclusive. The SPAQ completion rate (about 39% of eligible patients consulting a G.P.) was relatively low. Clinical relevance: Patients with SAD (using SPAQ criteria) commonly consult their G.P.s in winter but frequency, rather than seasonality, of consultation may be a better guide to diagnosing SAD in primary care.