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Table 2 Medical profile, functioning and quality of life at baseline

From: Characteristics of patients with depression initiating or switching antidepressant treatment: baseline analyses of the PERFORM cohort study

 

Switching (n analysed)a

Initiating (n analysed)a

P-value: switching vs initiating

Totalb (n)

Characteristics of current depressive episode

Treating physician (% of patient group)

(247)

(910)

< 0.001

(1159)

 General practitioner

73.3

86.4

 

83.6

 Psychiatrist

26.7

13.6

 

16.4

Duration of episode (%)c

(247)

(910)

< 0.001

(1157)

  < 1 week

0.4

1.9

 

1.6

 1–2 weeks

2.8

6.7

 

5.9

 2–4 weeks

14.6

23.2

 

21.3

 4–8 weeks

17.4

20.4

 

19.8

  > 8 weeks

64.8

47.8

 

51.4

Significant symptoms of anxiety (%)d

74.5 (247)

59.3 (910)

< 0.001

62.6 (1158)

Symptoms treated with anxiolytics (%)

53.1 (130)

38.6 (376)

0.004

42.2 (507)

Questionnaire scores, mean ± SD

    

 PHQ-9

18.4 ± 5.3 (198)

17.4 ± 5.3 (740)

0.014

17.6 ± 5.3 (940)

 CGI-S

4.4 ± 1.0 (246)

4.1 ± 1.0 (908)

< 0.001

4.2 ± 1.0 (1155)

 MADRSe

32.5 ± 7.1 (66)

32.9 ± 7.2 (124)

0.724

32.7 ± 7.1 (190)

 SDS

    

  Total score

20.6 ± 6.6 (147)

18.9 ± 6.7 (601)

0.004

19.2 ± 6.8 (750)

  Work/school disruption

6.7 ± 2.7 (150)

6.1 ± 2.8 (614)

0.020

6.3 ± 2.8 (766)

  Social life/leisure activities’ disruption

7.0 ± 2.4 (179)

6.4 ± 2.5 (704)

0.003

6.6 ± 2.5 (885)

  Family life/home duties’ disruption

7.0 ± 2.4 (179)

6.4 ± 2.5 (701)

0.001

6.5 ± 2.5 (882)

WPAIf

66.0 ± 23.5 (194)

59.9 ± 24.9 (740)

0.002

61.1 ± 24.8 (936)

ASEX

    

 Total score

22.2 ± 5.8 (169)

21.2 ± 5.7 (623)

0.031

21.4 ± 5.7 (793)

 Sexual dysfunction (%)

84.6 (188)

80.3 (695)

0.182

81.1 (884)

SF-12

(190)

(720)

 

(912)

 PCS

40.6 ± 11.4

46.4 ± 12.0

< 0.001

45.2 ± 12.1

 MCS

26.8 ± 9.0

26.4 ± 9.2

0.598

26.5 ± 9.2

EQ-5D utility scoreg

0.5 ± 0.3 (48)

0.6 ± 0.3 (227)

0.044

0.5 ± 0.3 (276)

Other current illnesses

    

Mental-health disorders other than depression (%)

(247)

(910)

 

(1159)

 Alcohol abuse or dependence

1.6

3.0

0.245

2.7

 Other abuse disorders

1.2

1.3

1.000

1.3

 Somatoform disorders

10.5

7.0

0.069

7.9

 Eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia)

10.5

7.5

0.119

8.1

 Other

0.0

0.8

0.357

0.6

Functional syndromes (%)

(247)

(910)

 

(1159)

 Chronic pain

23.9

14.7

< 0.001

16.7

 Chronic fatigue

17.0

15.9

0.685

16.1

 Fibromyalgia

13.0

5.2

< 0.001

6.8

 Premenstrual syndrome

4.9

3.1

0.174

3.5

 Sleep disorders

29.1

27.9

0.701

28.2

 Other

2.4

2.9

0.716

2.8

Previous depressive episodes

    

History of depression (%)

    

 Previous episode

72.0 (246)

52.4 (910)

< 0.001

56.6 (1157)

 Episode within previous 12 months if previous episode

33.9 (177)

22.4 (477)

0.003

25.5 (655)

 Antidepressant treatment if previous episode

91.0 (177)

77.1 (476)

< 0.001

80.9 (654)

 Previous hospitalization for depression

15.3 (177)

6.5 (477)

< 0.001

8.9 (655)

 Remission of previous episode

72.3 (177)

87.2 (477)

< 0.001

83.2 (655)

Previous suicide attempt

18.1 (177)

11.3 (477)

0.023

13.1 (655)

  1. Abbreviations: ASEX Arizona Sexual Experience Scale, CGI-S Clinical Global Improvement Severity scale, EQ-5D EuroQol 5-Dimensions questionnaire, MADRS Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, MCS mental component summary, PCS physical component summary, PHQ-9 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire, SD standard deviation, SDS Sheehan Disability Scale, SF-12 Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form (12-item) Health Survey, WPAI Work Productivity and Activity Impairment questionnaire
  2. P-values in bold indicate statistically significant differences
  3. aNumber of patients included in the between-group comparison; information regarding whether the patient was initiating or switching treatment was missing for two patients
  4. bTotal number of patients providing data
  5. cPhysicians’ response
  6. dThe percentages refer to patients “probably” or “definitely” presenting clinically significant symptoms of anxiety according to physician; the P-value indicates the between-group comparison taking into account all five categories (“definitely”, “probably”, “probably not”, “definitely not” and “don’t know”)
  7. eAssessment used by psychiatrists only
  8. fActivity impairment due to problem
  9. gUK sample population only