Depressive symptoms and the diagnosis of affective disorder in a clinic population of low socioeconomic status

The authors used the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale to measure the level of depressive symptoms in a self-referred clinic population whose socioeconomic status was low. They found that the population suffered a high degree of depression and that the diagnosis of major affective syndrome predominated. The depression scale used was found to be a good indicator of probable depression in this population. The authors suggest further investigation of the linkage between socioeconomic status and affective disorder.