Research report A survey on anxious and depressive complaints of Brazilian women Luís Pereira Justo, Elizabethe Cristina Borsonelo, Alexandro de Borja Gonc ¸alves Guerra, Helena Maria Calil ⁎ Department of Psychobiology, Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil Available online 14 November 2006 Abstract Background: Affective disorders and symptoms are very prominent among women. However specific complaints and symptoms may vary in different cultures. Methods: A survey on the most common complaints from Brazilian women, identified as anxious or depressive symptoms, was performed with a focus group of 6 psychiatrists. The results are shown and a narrative review of manifestations of anxious and depressive symptoms in Latin American women are reported. Results: Complaints and symptoms of depression and anxiety are associated with some ethnic and socio-cultural factors. The overlap between depression and anxiety is substantial. Limitations: The authors concluded that there is still insufficient quantitative scientific evidence, allowing a clear view of this subject. Conclusions: There have been suggestions that ethnic, cultural, and economic conditions seem to play an important role in presentation of depressive and anxious symptoms. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Women; Latin America; Socio-cultural 1. Introduction Psychiatric disorders affect approximately 450 mil- lion people around the world (WHO, 2001). Depression, one of these disorders, has been considered a public health problem of increasing magnitude estimated to be the third most important disease in developed countries and the first in the developing nations by the year 2020 (Murray and Lopez, 1997). Epidemiological studies have shown that the prevalence of major depression during lifetime is 21.3% and 12.3% among women and men, respectively (Noble, 2005). The ratio of 2 women:1 man affected has been recorded in different countries and ethnic groups. There have been few well- designed epidemiological studies in less developed countries, such as Brazil (Almeida-Filho et al., 2004; Andrade et al., 2003, 2002; Vorcaro et al., 2002, 2001; Almeida-Filho et al., 1997), but they replicated the higher prevalence of depression in women than in men. The reported rates of depressive disorders in the USA have increased more in women during the second half of the twentieth century, and such increase has been attributed to stressful changes of their social roles (Kasen et al., 2003). At the same time, there have been Journal of Affective Disorders 102 (2007) 259 – 264 www.elsevier.com/locate/jad ⁎ Corresponding author. Department of Psychobiology, Federal University of São Paulo, Rua Napoleão de Barros, 925-Vila Clementino, 04024-002-São Paulo-SP, Brazil. Tel.: +55 11 2149 0155; fax: +55 11 5572 5092. E-mail address: hmcalil@psicobio.epm.br (H.M. Calil). 0165-0327/$ - see front matter © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2006.09.030