[The association between disability and residual symptoms in depressive patients: a 3-month follow-up]

In this 3-month naturalistic follow-up we aimed to investigate depression treatment outcome and the correlation between improvement of depressive symptoms and level of disability.

The study included 104 patients with depression that presented to the Hacettepe Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic. The course was defined operationally using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, and Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders. The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHO-DAS II) was administered to determine level of disability. Patients received follow-up assessments using the same instruments 3 months after receiving antidepressant treatment.

Follow-up assessments showed that improvement in Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale total scores was statistically significant, and lower anxiety and depression ratings were correlated with lower disability levels. The patients that had severe depression and anxiety at the beginning of the course had residual depressive symptoms. The results showed that severity of depression was a predictor of residual symptoms in our cohort. Psychological anxiety was the most common residual symptom (consistent with other studies) and the patients with a psychological anxiety score > or = 2 had higher disability levels (Z = -3.570, P < 0.05).

Severity of depression was a predictor of residual symptoms and partial remission after a depressive episode appeared to be strongly associated with disability. These findings highlight the importance of adequate treatment of depression.