Depression in adults with disabilities, in primary care.

Purpose: This research was design to answer the question: Does the prevalence of depression differ between adults with and without disability, in the same family medicine practice?

Method: A retrospective cohort design was used, to study depression among adults, with and without primary disabling conditions, receiving primary care in either a university based urban or rural family practice setting.

Results: When we compared individuals with disability to those without disability, and controlled for individual characteristics, the relative risk for depression was significantly lower for individuals with autism (Relative Risk (RR) 0.20: 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.