[Anhedonia in major depression. Comparison of 55 depressed patients with 54 healthy probands]

A study on 55 subjects who meet Spitzer's research Diagnosis Criteria of primary major depressive disorder and 54 healthy subjects has been conducted to explore anhedonia. The two groups were matched concerning the socio-demographic variables (sex, age, education level). Anhedonia was rated using the Physical Anhedonia Scale (PAS) and a physical sub-scale (FCPCS-PP) extracted from the Fawcett Clark pleasure scale. The severity of depression was rated using the Bech HDRS (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) subscale for global severity. The results have shown that the major depressives are significantly more anhedonic than controls. The PAS mean score of depressives (m = 24.45, sd = 9.22) was significantly higher than the meaning score of normals (m = 16.9, sd = 7.13) (t = 4.7, df = 107, p = 0.0001). The FCPCS-PP mean score of depressives (m = 81, sd = 15) was significantly lower than the mean score of normals (m = 90.6, sd = 7.3) (t = 4.2, df = 107, p = 0.0001). The Pearson correlation coefficients between the anhedonia scales (PAS and FCPCS-PP) and the Bech HDRS were not statistically significant. Anhedonia in major depression seems to be independent of the depression intensity. The distribution of the PAS and the FCPCS-PP scores have been studied in the major depressive group using a test of normality (chi 2 analysis). The results have shown for each scale a normal distribution. Our results do not support the hypothesis of the existence of a severely anhedonic sub-group of major depressives.