Female vs. male outpatient depression: a 448-case study in private practice

1. Aims of the study were to find the prevalence of female depression, and to study the differences between female and male depression, in private practice. Four hundred forty eight consecutive unipolar and bipolar II depressed outpatients were interviewed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale, and the Global Assessment of Functioning scale. 2. Prevalence of female depression was 67.8%. Female to male ratio was 2:1. Among the variables investigated (age at intake, age at onset, duration of illness, severity, chronicity, psychosis, recurrences, atypical features, comorbidity), atypical features and comorbidity were significantly associated with female depression. 3. Private practice outpatient female depression (chronic, psychotic, or recurrent) was not more severe than male depression.