Am
BRIEF
J Psychiatry
November
/35:1/,
1978
COMMUNICATIONS
A Comparison
of Depression
and
Physical
Illness
in Men
and
Won BY
MELVIN
L. SELZER,
M.D.,
MARIA
PALUSZNY,
M.D.,
AND
ROBERT
Measurement-the
A limited self-rating depression scale given to male and femnale factors’ workers indicated that subclinical depressive symptoms ts’ere correlated with visits to the factory health service for females and with absenteeism from work for males. In general, the females acknowledged more depression symptoms.
CARROLL,
M.D.
SDS
The Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) (1) was used to assess the degree of depression. The SDS has been criticized by some researchers (2), but with the following minor modifications it served our punpose. First, before the test, we gave the following specific instructions to our subjects. Answer all questions as they apply to you. Ifyou feel an answer should be ‘none of the time,’ check the space ‘a little of the time’ ; if you feel an answer should be ‘all of the time,’ check ‘most of the time. We felt these instructions would allow us to compare our data with other studies using the SDS while reducing the number of questions ‘ ‘
RECENT YEARS there has been much research on various aspects of depression. Studies on the psychology, epidemiology, sociology, and neurobiology of depression are prominent in the psychiatric and related literature. Studies of subclinical depression are less frequent. We were interested in assessing a “normal” population to determine 1) the extent of depression in such a sample, 2) the possible correlation between depression and physical illness, and 3) possible sex differences in respect to these and other variables. IN
Sample The sample consisted of blue collar workers in a small rural factory where the males and females had identical occupations and similar backgrounds. Of 200 workers asked to participate, 159 responded to the first questionnaire (84 females and 75 males). Of these, 114 also took the second test (61 females and 53 males). There was a wide age range, 16-52 years, with a mean age of 28 years. Educational levels of the subjects ranged from seventh grade to 1 year of college.
this
study
was
done,
Dr.
Seizer
was
Professor,
Department
unanswered.
Second,
we
added
4 questions
(items
21-24): 1) I feel sad, 2) Things I try seem to go night, 3) I usually get what I deserve, and 4) I feel I get a raw deal out of life. These items were added to elicit additional data on depressed affect and self-esteem (numbers 1 and 2, respectively) and resentment (numbers 3 and 4).
0002-953X178/001
1-1368$0.40
In order to assess the relationship between depression and physical illness, we correlated the SDS with absenteeism and visits to the plant health service (categorized as visits for injury or for illness). The SDS was administered at the factory by a mcdical student. There was a 38-day interval between the two
testing
periods.
The
health
records
for
the
38-day
interval and for the 38 days before the first test were checked for health-related absenteeism for visits to the plant health service. The workers were told that all responses were confidential. The testing procedure took 15 minutes and subjects were paid $1.50 for filling out the questionnaire.
of
Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Mich., where Dr. Paluszny is Associate Professor and Dr. Carroll was a medical student. Dr. Paluszny is also Clinical Chief, Institute for the Study of Mental Retardation and Related Disabilities, University of Michigan. Dr. Seizer is now in private practice, 6967 Paseo Laredo, La Jolla, Calif. 92037. 1368
left
‘ ‘
Procedure
METHOD
When
‘
©
RESU
We
LTS
found
that
symptomatology 1978
American
females than
Psychiatric
males
Association
showed at both
more SDS
depressive rating pen-
Am
J Psychiatry
TABLE
135:/i,
November
/978
BRIEF
1
Comparisons
of Illness
Behavior
by Sex* Females
Illness
Behavior
Absences Period Period2 Visits to service Period Period2 Visits to service
Period
1* health for illness I
C omparison
SD
Mean
SD
Difference
P
2.!4 1.88
3.73 3.13
0.90 1.14
1.76 3.47
1.24 0.74
BRIEF
J Psychiatry
November
/35:1/,
1978
COMMUNICATIONS
A Comparison
of Depression
and
Physical
Illness
in Men
and
Won BY
MELVIN
L. SELZER,
M.D.,
MARIA
PALUSZNY,
M.D.,
AND
ROBERT
Measurement-the
A limited self-rating depression scale given to male and femnale factors’ workers indicated that subclinical depressive symptoms ts’ere correlated with visits to the factory health service for females and with absenteeism from work for males. In general, the females acknowledged more depression symptoms.
CARROLL,
M.D.
SDS
The Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) (1) was used to assess the degree of depression. The SDS has been criticized by some researchers (2), but with the following minor modifications it served our punpose. First, before the test, we gave the following specific instructions to our subjects. Answer all questions as they apply to you. Ifyou feel an answer should be ‘none of the time,’ check the space ‘a little of the time’ ; if you feel an answer should be ‘all of the time,’ check ‘most of the time. We felt these instructions would allow us to compare our data with other studies using the SDS while reducing the number of questions ‘ ‘
RECENT YEARS there has been much research on various aspects of depression. Studies on the psychology, epidemiology, sociology, and neurobiology of depression are prominent in the psychiatric and related literature. Studies of subclinical depression are less frequent. We were interested in assessing a “normal” population to determine 1) the extent of depression in such a sample, 2) the possible correlation between depression and physical illness, and 3) possible sex differences in respect to these and other variables. IN
Sample The sample consisted of blue collar workers in a small rural factory where the males and females had identical occupations and similar backgrounds. Of 200 workers asked to participate, 159 responded to the first questionnaire (84 females and 75 males). Of these, 114 also took the second test (61 females and 53 males). There was a wide age range, 16-52 years, with a mean age of 28 years. Educational levels of the subjects ranged from seventh grade to 1 year of college.
this
study
was
done,
Dr.
Seizer
was
Professor,
Department
unanswered.
Second,
we
added
4 questions
(items
21-24): 1) I feel sad, 2) Things I try seem to go night, 3) I usually get what I deserve, and 4) I feel I get a raw deal out of life. These items were added to elicit additional data on depressed affect and self-esteem (numbers 1 and 2, respectively) and resentment (numbers 3 and 4).
0002-953X178/001
1-1368$0.40
In order to assess the relationship between depression and physical illness, we correlated the SDS with absenteeism and visits to the plant health service (categorized as visits for injury or for illness). The SDS was administered at the factory by a mcdical student. There was a 38-day interval between the two
testing
periods.
The
health
records
for
the
38-day
interval and for the 38 days before the first test were checked for health-related absenteeism for visits to the plant health service. The workers were told that all responses were confidential. The testing procedure took 15 minutes and subjects were paid $1.50 for filling out the questionnaire.
of
Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Mich., where Dr. Paluszny is Associate Professor and Dr. Carroll was a medical student. Dr. Paluszny is also Clinical Chief, Institute for the Study of Mental Retardation and Related Disabilities, University of Michigan. Dr. Seizer is now in private practice, 6967 Paseo Laredo, La Jolla, Calif. 92037. 1368
left
‘ ‘
Procedure
METHOD
When
‘
©
RESU
We
LTS
found
that
symptomatology 1978
American
females than
Psychiatric
males
Association
showed at both
more SDS
depressive rating pen-
Am
J Psychiatry
TABLE
135:/i,
November
/978
BRIEF
1
Comparisons
of Illness
Behavior
by Sex* Females
Illness
Behavior
Absences Period Period2 Visits to service Period Period2 Visits to service
Period
1* health for illness I
C omparison
SD
Mean
SD
Difference
P
2.!4 1.88
3.73 3.13
0.90 1.14
1.76 3.47
1.24 0.74
