MIDAS Project
Publication Abstracts
Zimmerman, M., McDermut, Wilson, Mattia, J.I. The frequency of anxiety
disorders in psychiatric outpatients with major depressive disorder. American
Journal of Psychiatry, 2005, 157, 1337-1400.
Objective: The goal of the present study was to examine the
frequency of anxiety disorders in a large sample of depressed outpatients
seeking treatment. Methods: Three hundred seventy-three depressed
outpatients were interviewed with the Structured Clinical Interview for
DSM-IV. Results: More than half of the patients met full criteria for a
current anxiety disorder, and more than half of the patients with an
anxiety disorder had more than one. When partial remissions and not
otherwise specified (NOS) diagnoses were included, then two-thirds of the
patients had a current anxiety disorder and three-quarters had a lifetime
history of an anxiety disorder. Conclusions: The majority of
patients with a principal diagnosis of unipolar major depressive disorder
have a comorbid anxiety disorder. Because antidepressant medications have
differential efficacies in the treatment of anxiety disorders, knowledge
of the presence of a comorbid anxiety disorder in depressed patients may
have treatment implications.
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