Seasonality in affective disorders using SPAQ

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a subtype of affective disorder, which causes significant distress but has no-definitive treatments available till date. Research on SAD has shown variable prevalence due to different climates and latitudes in which these studies are carried outThe present study was an attempt to study prevalence of SAD, its socio-demographic and clinical characteristics and relationship between seasonality and development of affective disorder in a tertiary care psychiatric centre in North India. 421 consecutive patients of affective disorder were assessed on Socio-demographic profile sheet. Seasonality Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ), Dysfunctional Assessment Questionnaire, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and Mania Rating Scale. Most of patients were male and were living in the present climatic area for a mean duration of 35 years. Severe Depressive Episode with/without Psychotic Symptoms was the commonest diagnosis (ICD-10). Most of the patients did not report any variation in mood or behaviour. 2.85% patients were found to have syndromal / subsyndromal SAD based on Global Severity Score of SPAQ. Comparison of 'Seasonality' and 'Non-Seasonality' groups revealed that both groups were comparable on Socio-clinical variables, family history and severity of illness. Low prevalence of SAD in the present study could be due to the different method of assessment used in the study (assessment lasting for the whole year, direct interview method). It may also be speculated that season of changes are not related to underlying processes or consequent to the development of affective disorders.