PREVALENCE OF DEPRESSION AFTER

The lifetime prevalence of depression in the general U.S. population has been reported to be as high as 17 % (1). The rates of depression in healthy persons are significantly lower than those among the medically ill. The rates of depression among medically ill patients range as high as 20 % to 40%. Depression in the presence of medical illness, in comparison with depression in the absence of medical illness, is associ-ated with more severely impaired physical or cognitive func-tion. Untreated, depression can persist for many months and may complicate recovery from the medical illness. Each year, approximately $44 billion is spent in the treat-ment of depression (2). Although depression associated with medical illness has been shown to increase mortality (3), the benefits of treating depression on medical morbidity and mortality have not yet been established. In this chapter, we review the relationship between depression and medical illness, with cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease used as a prototype of medical illness