Background: Screening instruments are required for the detection of depressive disorders by primary care practitioners.
Aim: To develop a screening instrument to detect depression, based on data gathered interviewing patients attending primary health care settings.
Material And Methods: The instrument was constructed with data about factors associated or triggering a depressive disorder obtained from 3,000 patients consulting for general morbidity.
Background: Serotonin plays a central role regulating mood and on the development of depressive disorders.
Aim: To study whether 5HTTLPR functional polymorphisms in the serotonin transporter gene or the Monoamine oxidase A gene (uMAOA) were risk markers for depression.
Material And Methods: The Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) was applied to 1,062 consultants in primary health care centers aged between 18 and 75 years to establish the diagnosis of depression.