Am J Psychiatry 1995; 152:1225-1227
Copyright © 1995 by American Psychiatric Association
Prevalence of seasonal difficulties in mood and behavior among Japanese civil servants
N Ozaki, Y Ono, A Ito and NE Rosenthal
Department of Hygiene, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Japan.
OBJECTIVE: Most prevalence studies of seasonal changes in mood and behavior
have come from Western countries. The authors' goal was to determine the
prevalence of seasonal changes in mood and behavior in a randomly selected
group of Japanese workers. METHOD: They administered a Japanese translation
of the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire to 1,276 civil servants in
Nagoya, Japan. RESULTS: The estimated prevalence of winter seasonal
affective disorder was 0.86%, the estimated prevalence of winter
subsyndromal seasonal affective disorder was 0.86%, the estimated
prevalence of summer seasonal affective disorder was 0.94%, and the
estimated prevalence of summer subsyndromal seasonal affective disorder was
2.12%. CONCLUSIONS: The authors conclude that seasonal changes in mood and
behavior occur in Japan, but at a lower frequency and with a different
profile than in the United States or Europe.
