Depression

Number of patients consulting

The graph below shows the estimated number of patients in Scotland (per 1,000 registered with a practice) who consulted either a GP or practice-employed nurse for depression and other affective disorders at least once in the year ending 31 March 2008, by gender and age group. As expected on the basis of other evidence¹, the rates were higher for females than for males in all age groups. The total numbers of females estimated to consult for depression annually were more than double the estimate for males.

All estimates are standardised by deprivation to account for any differences between the PTI sample population and the Scottish practice population in levels of deprivation. These figures and comparable figures for 2003/04 to 2006/07 are also provided in tabular format in an Excel document  (82KB).

Depression² - estimated number of patients in Scotland consulting a GP or practice nurse at least once in the financial year 2007/08 ^3, 4 per 1,000 patients registered
by gender and age group

¹ National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). Clinical Guideline 23. Depression: management of depression in primary and secondary care. NICE, London, 2004
² Based on ISD's Read Code Grouping (RCG) 'Depression and other affective disorders'.
³ Based on 47 PTI practices that submitted complete GP and practice nurse data for the year ending 31 March 2008. Rates are standardised by deprivation.
⁴ Population source: Community Health Index (CHI) record, as at 30 September 2007.

Note: Due to improvements made to the statistical model used to calculate PTI estimates, figures shown here are not strictly comparable to these provided prior to 31 March 2009.  See the Note of Revisions for further information.

Source: Practice Team Information (PTI), ISD Scotland (last updated 31 March 2009)

Number of consultations

The chart below shows the estimated numbers of consultations in Scotland for depression for the five financial years 2003/04 to 2007/08, by staff discipline. The numbers have decreased sharply over the last five years, which is likely a result of clinicians having become more precise in their coding. Previously, patients with depression-like symptoms may have been given a code referring to diagnosed depression, whereas now they may use a more general code for a psychological symptom or sign and not use a depression code until the diagnosis has been confirmed. It is clear from the chart that the vast majority of consultations for depression were with a GP and that the proportions involving the other disciplines were relatively small.

All estimates are standardised by age, gender and deprivation to account for any differences in these characteristics between the PTI sample population and the Scottish practice population. These figures plus additional detail are also provided in tabular format in an Excel document   (20KB).

Depression ¹ - estimated number of consultations in Scotland in the financial years 2003/04 to 2007/08 ^{2, 3} 
by staff discipline

* Health visitor and district nurse data are not available from the financial year 2006/07 onwards.
¹ Based on ISD's Read Code Grouping (RCG) 'Depression and other affective disorders'.
² Based on 59, 53, 51, 49 and 47 PTI practices that submitted complete data for the years ending 31 March 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, respectively. Figures are standardised by age, gender and deprivation.
³ Population source: Community Health Index (CHI) record, as at 30 September 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Note: Due to improvements made to the statistical model used to calculate PTI estimates for all years and the larger number of practices now included in the PTI sample for the years 2003/04 to 2005/06, figures shown here are not strictly comparable to these provided prior to 31 March 2009.  See the Note of Revisions for further information.

Source: Practice Team Information  (PTI), ISD Scotland (last updated 31 March 2009)