Mood Disorders
Chapter One
The Epidemiology of Mood Disorders
Frank Jacobi, Simone Rosi,
Carlo Faravelli, Renee Goodwin,
Saena Arbabzadeh-Bouchez and Jean-Pierre Lepine
INTRODUCTION
Research in epidemiology is critical to understanding mood disorders for several
reasons. First, on a societal level, health care planning can be assisted by assessing
the magnitude of the burden of disease in the population. Mood disorders are
among the major health problems world wide for two reasons: they are highly
prevalent in the general population, and they cause significant loss of quality of
life and social functioning in the affected individual. Further, mood disorders
contribute to a poorer outcome of comorbid mental as well as somatic conditions.
On the basis of epidemiological data and health economic measures
based on clinical severity ratings it has been projecte ... read full excerpt from Mood Disorders ebook
