Prevalence of Mood Disorders in Iran

Objective: To study the prevalence and demographic characteristics of mood disorders among Iranian adults.
Method: In this cross-sectional population-based epidemiological study (age > 18) in Iran, 25180 individuals were selected through a randomized cluster sampling method for a diagnosis using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS). They were then interviewed at home by 250 trained clinical psychologists.
Results: The estimated lifetime prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Minor Depressive Disorder (mDD) were 3.1% and 0.3% respectively. Also, the estimated lifetime prevalence of Bipolar Mood disorder (BMD) type I and type II were 0.1% and 0.7% respectively. The current prevalence of MDD, mDD, BMD-I, and BMD-II were 1.8%, 0.2%, 0.04%, and 0.3% respectively. Mood disorders were associated with female gender, lower education, being married, being middle-aged, living in cities, and not being a homemaker.
Conclusion: The prevalence of mood disorders was lower among Iranian adults than reported in Western studies, and a number of demographic associations differed from those reported in Western studies. Important cultural differences in the nature or manifestation of depression are implied by these results.

Bash KW, Bash-Liechti J. Studies on the epidemiology of neuropsychiatric disorders among the population of the city of Shiraz, Iran. Social Psychiatry 1974; 9: 163-71.

Noorbala AA, Mohammad K, Bagheri Yazdi SA . [Epidemiology of psychiatric disorder in Tehran.] Hakim Res J 1997; 2: 212-22.[article in Farsi]

H Mohammadi, M.R., Davidian, H. Noorbala A.A.,Malekafzali, H., Naghavi, H.R., Alaghebandrad, J., and et al. (2005). An epidemiological survey of psychiatric disorders in Iran. Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental ealth 1:16

Somervell PD, Leaf PJ, Weissman MM, Blazer DG, Bruce ML .The prevalence of major depression in black and white adults in five United States communities. Am J Epidemiol 1989; 130: 725-35.

Statistical Centre of Iran.Census and survey report. Plan & Budget Organization press, 1998.

Endicott J, Spitzer RL. A diagnostic interview: the

schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1978; 35: 837-44.

American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Forth edition (DSM-IV). Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association; 1994.

Simpson SG, McMahon FJ, McInnis MG, McKinnon DF, Edwin D, Folstein SE, DePaulo JR. Diagnostic reliability of bipolar II disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2002; 59: 736-40.

Blazer DG, Kessler RC, McGonagle KA, Swartz MS. The prevalence and distribution of major depression in a national community sample: The National Comorbidity Survey. Am J Psychiatry 1994; 151: 979-86.

Regier DA, Myers JK, Kramer M, Robins LN, Blazer DG, Hough RL, et al.The NIMH Epidemiologic Catchment Area program: historical context, major objectives, and study population characteristics. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1984; 41: 934–41.

Brown DR, Ahmed F, Gary LE, Milburn NG. Major depression in a community sample of African Americans. Am J Psychiatry 1995; 152: 373-78.

Kessler RC, Rubinow D R, Holmes C, Abelson J M, Zhao S. The epidemiology of DSM-III-R bipolar I disorder in a general population survey. Psychol Med 1997; 27: 1079-89.

Kessler RC, McGonagle KA, Zhao S, Nelson CB, Hughes M, Eshleman S, et al. Lifetime and 12- month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1994; 51: 8-19.

Weissman MM, Leaf PJ, Holzer CE 3rd, Myers JK, Tischler GL. The epidemiology of depression. An update on sex differences in rates. J Affect Disord 1984; 7: 179-88.

Isometsa E, Aro S, Aro H . Depression in Finland: a computer assisted telephone interview study. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1997; 96: 122-28.

Hoeper EW, Nycz GR, Clearly PD, Reiger DA, Goldberg ID .Estimated prevalence of RDE mental disorders in primary care. Int J Mental Health 1979; 8: 6-15.

Leboyer M, Maier W, Teherani M, Lichtermann D, D'Amato T, Franke P, Lepine JP, Minges J, cGuffin P. The reliability of the SADS-LA in a family study setting. Eur Arch Psychiatr Clin Neurosci 1991; 241: 165-9.

Bruce M L, Kim KM . Differences in the effects of divorce on major depression in men and women. Am J Psychiatry 1992; 149: 914-7.

Hodiamont P, Peer N, Syben N. Epidemiological aspects of psychiatric disorder in a Dutch health area. Psychol Med 1987; 17: 495-505.

Crowell BA, George LK, Blazer D, Landerman R. Psychological risk factors and urban/rural differences in the prevalence of major depression. Br J Psychiatry 1986; 149: 307-14.

Chan B, Parker G. Some recommendations to assess depression in Chinese people in Australasia. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2004; 38(3):141-7.

Katon W, Kleinman A, Rosen G. Depression and somatization: a review. Part II. Am J Med 1982; 72: 241-7.

Angst J, Gamma A, Benazzi F, Silverstein B, Ajdacic-Gross V, Eich D, Rossler W. Atypical depressive syndromes in varying definitions. Eur Arch Psychiatr Clin Neurosci 2005;27.

Files	XML PDF (87KB)
Issue	Vol 1 No 2 (2006)
Section	Articles
Keywords
Bipolar disorder Iran Major Depressive Disorder Mood disorders Prevalence

Rights and permissions
	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Pouretemad HR, Naghavi HR, Malekafzali H, Noorbala AA, Davidian H, Ghanizadeh A, Mohammadi M-R, Bagheri Yazdi SA, Rahgozar M, Alaghebandrad J, Amini H, Razzaghi EM, Mesgarpour B, Ghaemi SN. Prevalence of Mood Disorders in Iran. Iran J Psychiatry. 1;1(2):59-64.

Vancouver

Download Citation