Is there seasonality in hospitalizations for major depressive disorder in Canada?

Abstract Background Canada, a temperate country with four defined seasons incurs an annual productivity loss of over $30 billion on major depressive disorder (MDD); however it remains unknown whether inpatient hospitalization for MDD exhibits seasonal variations. Objective Our study objective was to determine if there are seasonal variations in hospitalization rates for MDD in Canada. Methods We used time series analysis to determine monthly rates of hospitalizations for MDD from 2006 – 2013, on data from population level health-administrative databases in Ontario, Canada. We also stra...