Seasonal affective disorder among psychiatric nurses in Aberdeen

• Published in: Journal of affective disorders Vol. 37; no. 2; pp. 129 - 135
• Main Authors: Eagles, John M., Mercer, Gavin, Boshier, Andrew J., Jamieson, Fiona
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 12.04.1996; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Health staff related problems. Vocational training; Humans; Incidence; Latitude; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Nurse; Personality Inventory; Psychiatric Nursing - statistics & numerical data; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Risk Factors; Scotland - epidemiology; Seasonal Affective Disorder - epidemiology; Seasonal Affective Disorder - genetics; Seasonal Affective Disorder - psychology; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; Winter depression; United Kingdom; Scotland; Great Britain; Europe; Latitude; Winter depression; Nurse; Human; Mood disorder; Psychiatric nurse; Prevalence; Winter; Health staff; Seasonal variation; Depression; Epidemiology; Public health; Geographical variation
• ISSN: 0165-0327; 1573-2517
• DOI: 10.1016/0165-0327(95)00085-2

The Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire was posted to psychiatric nurses in Aberdeen, and 443 (73% of eligible subjects) responded. The rate of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) was 2.9% and for subsyndromal SAD (S-SAD) was 9.5%. When rates were age and sex adjusted to the Aberdeen population aged 15 to 64, this yielded a prevalence of 1.9% for SAD and 7.2% for S-SAD. As in other studies, there was a preponderance of young female sufferers, but being married appeared to be protective. Comparisons with epidemiological studies elsewhere lead to the conclusion that population rates of winter depression relate to a combination of genetic susceptibility/selection, latitude of residence and geographical mobility.