.. When, however, lifetime GAD cases with still-existing, 12-month subthreshold GAD syndromes are counted as well – as was the case in the NCS study – an almost identical 12-month rate of 3.6% (2.4% in men and 4.9% in women) was confirmed. In addition, the disorder was found to be significantly more frequent in women than in men (odds ratio [OR] =21;P<0.05).The investigators Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical also determined

prevalence rates for subthreshold expressions of GAD by using different time criteria for duration, such as worrying for at least 1 month (7.8%) or worrying for at least 3 months (4.1%), and concluded that long periods of anxious worrying associated with subthreshold GAD symptoms are much more widespread in the community than threshold GAD. When Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical prevalence data from the NCS and GHS are examined by age, it is clear that for both lifetime and 12-month prevalence rates, the lowest rates for GAD occur in the younger age groups and the highest rates are found in the older study participants.26,37 In the GHS, the likelihood of receiving a diagnosis of GAD increased significantly Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical with age (18-34 versus 35-65 years; OR=l

.0; P<0.05) when controlling for differences in gender, with point prevalence rates up to 4.4% in women aged 45 or older. These findings arc consistent with the lower prevalence rates for GAD recorded in studies of adolescents and young Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical adults. Despite differences in diagnostic criteria, the ECA,22 the NCS,26 and the Savigny study13 rates of GAD were quite similar. Lifetime prevalence varied considerably more in the Iceland and Hong

Kong studies24 from 7.8% in Hong Kong (women) to 21.7% in Iceland.25 The Florence study26 provides an interesting example of the effects of requiring the longer 6-month duration of DSM-III-R. For DSM-III, the lifetime prevalence rate Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical was 5.4%, while the narrower DSM-III-R definition resulted in the lower rate of 3.9%. Another clinical and epidemiological study of GAD in general practice39 indicates that, among a sample of 1117 patients, 15.4% were given a GAD diagnosis (DSM-III); there whatever were predominantly women and aged between 35 and 50 years. On the other hand, GAD (and PD) is unique among anxiety disorders in that patients commonly present to primary care physicians for treatment:40 An international WHO study used ICD-10 criteria and the CIDI to assess GAD and estimated the current prevalence of GAD to be approximately 8% of all primary care attendees.41 A more Pictilisib clinical trial recent reanalysis confirmed these results by using more sophisticated analyses, finding a mean current prevalence rate of 7.9%. 40 This study also found a wide range of prevalence rates across the participating countries, for example, 3.8% in Italy and 14.8% in Greece, possibly owing to differences in the way that countries and regions organize the provision of primary care services.