Depression: Inside and Outside the Hospital Setting

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Abstract
Twenty general practice patients selected for treatment with tricyclic antidepressants were matched with an equal number of psychiatric in-patients who had been admitted to hospital for depressive illnesses. In order to assess their depressive status, the Levine-Pilowsky (LPD) questionnaire was administered to both groups. It was found that although patients from each setting reported the same degree of depressive severity, the pattern of their LPD responses differed significantly. Twice as many hospital patients were assigned to either Class A (‘non-endogenous depression’) or Class B (‘endogenous depression) compared to the general practice patients, most of whom were classified as Class C (‘non depressed’). These results indicate the importance of distinguishing between depressive severity and depressive classification when comparing patients encountered outside the hospital setting with those who are in-patients.