[Diagnosis of depressive syndromes in primary health care. A study using CET-DE (short version)]

A study has been carried out of the local prevalence of depressive syndromes among users of health clinics in three rural towns of the Autonomous Community of Castilla-La Mancha, by the application, following inclusion and exclusion criteria, of a psychometric filter scale (CET-DE, short form) and later psychiatric interviews to confirm the diagnosis and the validity of the scale. A local prevalence of 17.67% of depressive syndromes has been obtained among users and prevalence among the general public has been estimated at 6.59%. The scale has had a sensitivity of 0.96 and a specificity of 0.58, hence we conclude that it be considered useful in surgeries of Primary Health Care doctors (PHC). At the same time the possibility of using Chemists' Dispensaries for this type of studies is moot.