Journal
PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE
Volume 35, Issue 7, Pages 1073-1082Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/S0033291705004538
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Funding
- NIDA NIH HHS [R01 DA016558] Funding Source: Medline
- NIMH NIH HHS [U01-MH60220, R01-MH069864, R13-MH066849] Funding Source: Medline
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Background. The proposed revisions of the ICD and DSM diagnostic systems have led to increased interest in evaluation of diagnostic criteria. This report focuses on the DSM-IV requirement that episodes of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) must persist for at least 6 months. Community epidemiological data are used to study the implications of changing this requirement in the range 1-12 months for estimates of prevalence, onset, course, impairment, co-morbidity, associations with parental GAD, and sociodemographic correlates. Method. Data come from the US National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R), a US household survey carried out during 2001-2003. Version 3.0 of the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI) was used to assess DSM-IV anxiety disorders, mood disorders, substance disorders, and impulse-control disorders. Results. Lifetime, 12-month, and 30-day prevalence estimates of DSM-IV GAD changed from 6(.)1 %, 2(.)9 %, and 1(.)8 % to 4(.)2-12(.)7 %, 2(.)2-5(.)5 %, and 1(.)6-2(.)6 % when the duration requirement was changed from 6 months to 1-12 months. Cases with episodes of 1-5 months did not differ greatly from those with episodes of >= 6 months in onset, persistence, impairment, co-morbidity, parental GAD, or sociodemographic correlates. Conclusions. A large number of people suffer from a GAD-like syndrome with episodes of < 6 months duration. Little basis for excluding these people from a diagnosis is found in the associations examined here.
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