A study just published in The Lancet Public Health has analyzed data from the European Health Interview Survey, which includes responses from more than 250,000 people.
According to the results, more than 6% of Europeans suffer from depression. The incidence is higher in women with 7.7%, while in men it is 4.9%. Strong differences are observed between countries, with higher rates in the more economically developed states .
Developed Country Woman: Worst Stop
In total, the responses of 258,888 people from 27 European countries, excluding Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands, could be used for methodological reasons. However, an earlier study made use of Spanish survey data, which showed that depression had an overall prevalence of 6.1 percent , 8 percent among women and 4.1 percent among men.
The researchers found large differences between countries, with prevalence rates up to four times higher in the most economically developed nations, and therefore, supposedly, better health and care resources, which should reduce prevalence rates.
The countries with the highest prevalence are Iceland (10.3 percent of the population), Luxembourg (9.7 percent), Germany (9.2 percent) and Portugal (9.2 percent). Those with the lowest rates are the Czech Republic (2.6 percent), Slovakia (2.6 percent), Lithuania (3 percent) and Croatia (3.2 percent).
By sex, the countries with the highest proportion of men suffering from a depressive disorder are Germany and Ireland, and the lowest are the Czech Republic and Slovakia. For women, the countries with the highest rates are Germany and Luxembourg, while the lowest are Slovakia and the Czech Republic .