A case-control study on the quality of life and the way of response among patients with anxiety disorder in Shandong province / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the characteristics related to the quality of life and the way of response among patients with anxiety disorder in Shandong province.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Case-control study was adopted, with secondary data analysis on mental disorders among adults over 18 years of age, in Shandong province. 720 patients with anxiety disorder who met the anxiety diagnostic criteria of DSM-IV, were selected from the database, according to the distributions on gender, age (±3 years of age), village or community. 720 persons without any psychiatric diagnosis were selected and served as controls, under 1 :1 paired choice. Research tools would include:General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12),Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ), Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (SCSQ), and questionnaire on general information.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Scores of QLQ among patients with anxiety disorder were lower than that of the control group, with statistically significant difference(P < 0.01). Scores on the negative ways of coping among patients with anxiety disorder were higher than the scores of the control group, with statistically significant difference(P < 0.01). Regardless of gender, age, occupation, education, marriage, religious belief etc., results from the 'two factors anova-analysis' showed that the scores of QLQ among patients with anxiety disorder were still lower than the scores of the control group while the scores on negative coping were still higher than the scores of the control group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Patients with anxiety disorder and having poor quality of life outnumbered the ones from the control group, and using negative coping ways to cope with the stress events.</p>

Association between painful physical symptoms and clinical outcomes in Chinese patients with major depressive disorder: a three-month observational study / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Painful physical symptoms (PPS) may present as a component of major depressive disorder (MDD). Their effect in Chinese patients has not been investigated. This analysis reports the changes in disease severity, treatment patterns, quality of life and outcomes in a Chinese cohort according to the presence (PPS+) or absence (PPS-) of painful physical symptoms.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A subgroup of Chinese patients from a large observational 3-month study of patients from Asian countries and regions of China were classified using the modified Somatic Symptom Inventory (SSI) as PPS+ (mean score >or= 2) or PPS- (mean score < 2). Depression severity was assessed with the Clinical Global Impression of Severity (CGI-S) scale and 17-item Hamilton depression rating scale (HAMD(17)). Pain severity was measured using a visual analogue scale (VAS), while the EuroQoL (EQ-5D) assessed patient well-being. Antidepressants were compared with regard to their efficacy.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of the 299 Chinese patients enrolled in the study, 105 were classified as PPS+ (73/105, 70% women). At baseline, PPS+ patients reported greater pain severity (VAS, mean (SD): 49.56 (26.49) vs. 16.60 (20.99) for PPS-, P < 0.01), were more depressed (HAMD(17), mean (SD): 25.32 (5.47) vs. 23.33 (5.24) for PPS-, P = 0.002) and had poorer quality of life (EQ-5D Health State, mean (SD): 38.48 (22.38) vs. 49.57 (18.54) for PPS-, P < 0.001). PPS+ patients showed less overall improvement in depressive symptom severity (HAMD(17), change from baseline (95%CI): -17.38 (-18.65, -16.12) vs. -19.20 (-20.05, -18.35) for PPS-, P = 0.032; CGI-S, change from baseline (95%CI): -2.85 (-3.11, -2.58) vs. -3.20 (-3.38, -3.02) for PPS-, P = 0.044).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>PPS were less frequent than expected compared with previous studies of Asian populations. PPS+ were associated with greater MDD severity and less improvement than PPS- when antidepressants were given.</p>