Objective:To explore the symptom characteristics of major depressive episode in rural communities.Methods:234 patients with MDE were screened out and confirmed in the sampling survey of depression in rural residents of Liuyang from March to May 2007.All the patients were interviewed by well-trained investigators to examine the 9 symptoms of MDE according to SCID.Results:The sequence of positive rates of the 9 symptoms of MDE from highest to lowest were depressed mood(96.6%),diminished interest or pleasure in all(85.0%),fatigue or loss of energy(84.6%),insomnia or hypersomnia(83.3%),appetite or weight change(68.4%),diminished ability to think or concentrate,or indecisiveness(64.5%),feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt(62.4%),recurrent suicidal ideation or attempt(37.2%)and psychomotor agitation or retardation(27.4%);and 7.7% of the patients were all positve of the 9 symptoms.The positive rate of appetite or weight change in males(76.7%)was significantly higher than in females(63.5%),while the positive rate of suicidal ideation or attempt in females(40.2%)was significantly higher than males(30.2%).Among the somatic symptoms,the most frequent was fatigue or loss of energy,followed by insomnia or hypersomnia and appetite or weight change.The mean sleeping time reported by patients was only 4.53 hours a day.Conclusion:Compared with clinical patients with MDE,the positive rates of some symptoms(such as appetite and weight change)are lower in rural community patients than in hospitalized patients.The results indicate to make further studies on symptom characteristics of community patients with dpression in order to promote the depression patients to seek professional helps actively and to elevate the recognise or diagnosis of depression.