prevalence of mood disorders in iran

objective: to study the prevalence and demographic characteristics of mood disorders among iranian adults. method: in this cross-sectional population-based epidemiological study (age > 18) in iran, 25180 individuals were selected through a randomized cluster sampling method for a diagnosis using the schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia (sads). they were then interviewed at home by 250 trained clinical psychologists. results: the estimated lifetime prevalence of major depressive disorder (mdd) and minor depressive disorder (mdd) were 3.1% and 0.3% respectively. also, the estimated lifetime prevalence of bipolar mood disorder (bmd) type i and type ii were 0.1% and 0.7% respectively. the current prevalence of mdd, mdd, bmd-i, and bmd-ii were 1.8%, 0.2%, 0.04%, and 0.3% respectively. mood disorders were associated with female gender, lower education, being married, being middle-aged, living in cities, and not being a homemaker. conclusion: the prevalence of mood disorders was lower among iranian adults than reported in western studies, and a number of demographic associations differed from those reported in western studies. important cultural differences in the nature or manifestation of depression are implied by these results.