RÉSUMÉ
Objective:To investigate the characteristics of obesity in adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD) and its association with the depressed severity.Methods:A total of 278 adolescents with MDD were recruited according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Their demographic data were collected and 24-item Hamilton depression scale (HAMD-24) was used to evaluate their severity of depression. According to the body mass index (BMI) classification standard of adolescents in China, all subjects were classified into four groups(wasting group, normal BMI group, overweight group and obesity group). SPSS 26.0 statistical software was used for data analysis. The Kruskal-Wallis test and the Chi-square test were separately used for the comparison of the four groups.Spearman correlation was used to explore the relationship between BMI and HAMD-24 scores and severity.Results:Among 278 adolescents with MDD, the prevalence of body abnormality was 32.4% (90/278), among which wasting, overweight and obesity were 9.0% (25/278), 14.4% (40/278) and 9.0% (25/278) respectively. There were statistically differences in gender ( χ2=17.018, P<0.001), HAMD-24 scores ( H=9.427, P=0.024) and depressed severity( H=8.508, P=0.037) among the four groups. Multiple comparisons showed that there were only statistically differences between obesity group and normal BMI group, that was the prevalence of obesity in males was higher than that in females ( χ2=13.631, P<0.001), and the level in HAMD-24 scores ( Z=2.956, P=0.003) and depressed severity ( Z=2.832, P=0.005) was lower in obesity group than that in normal BMI group.Spearman correlation analysis showed that BMI was negatively correlated with HAMD-24 scores ( r=-0.162, P=0.007). Conclusion:There is gender difference in obesity rates among the adolescent patients with first-episode untreated MDD. And the obese patients are less depressed than those with normal BMI.