The prevalence of depression in chronic medical conditions is as follows: asthma (27 %), 9 atopic dermatitis (5 %), 10 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (24.6 %), 11 gouty arthritis (20 %), 12 rheumatoid arthritis (15 %), 13
systemic lupus erythematosus (22 %) 12 and stroke (30 %).14 Ismail et al conducted a meta - analysis of 57 studies and showed that the overall pooled prevalence of depression in patients with mild cognitive impairment was 32 %.4 Estimates of the prevalence of depression and depressive
symptoms vary substantially between published studies, particularly with respect to specialty, patient age and residence.