Health related quality of life in recurrent depression: a comparison with a general population sample

In the acute phase major depressive disorder (MDD) is a disabling disease. We compared HRQOL in patients with remitted MDD (rMDD) with a community sample and longitudinally assessed the relation between depressive symptoms and HRQOL in recurrently depressed patients.

We used 12-month data of patients from the Depression Evaluation Longitudinal Therapy Assessment (DELTA) study. HRQOL was assessed with the Medical Outcome Short Form (SF-36). Remission was determined with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV and depressive symptoms were assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory. Patients' mean SF-36 scores were compared with those of an age- and sex-matched Dutch reference population. The longitudinal relation between levels of SF-36 and levels of depressive symptomatology was assessed with a repeated measures linear regression analysis using the mixed models module.

In patients with rMDD in the remitted phase, especially in women, both physical and mental HRQOL was lower than in a Dutch population sample. An increase in the level of depressive symptoms corresponded to a decrease in all scales of the SF-36.

Also in remitted rMDD patients, especially in women, HRQOL is lower than in the general population which emphasizes that also in this phase of recurrent depression HRQOL deserves attention. Furthermore, in patients with rMDD a higher depressive symptom severity level is associated with a lower HRQOL. These findings imply that residual symptoms should be treated aggressively and HRQOL enhancement therapies should be developed.