Clinical characteristics, seasonal characteristics and related factors in patients with atypical depression / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To know the clinical characteristics, seasonal pattern and influencing factors of atypical depression(AD) patients.Methods:A total of 203 depressed outpatients of Peking University Sixth Hospital from January 2021 to August 2021 were included.They were assessed with demographic questionnaire, inventory of depressive symptomatology self-report(IDS-SR30) and seasonal pattern assessment questionnaire(SPAQ). According the score of IDS-SR30, all patients were classified as atypical depression(AD) and non-atypical depression(non-AD). The data were analyzed by t-test, non-parametric test and Logistic regression using SPSS 26.0 software. Results:The prevalence of AD among depressed patients was 36.0% (95% CI=29.3%-42.6%). The IDS-30 score of the AD group was (41.59±10.59), and IDS-30 score of the non-AD group was (36.08±13.17), and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( t=3.062, P<0.05). The global seasonal score of the AD group was 6 (3, 9), and 17.8% of the AD group had seasonal pattren.The global seasonal score of the non-AD group was 5 (3, 8), and 14.6% of the non-AD group had seasonal pattern.There was no significant difference in the global seasonal score and the proportion of seasonal pattern between the two groups ( Z=0.389, χ2=0.359, P>0.05). Depression patients who were females ( β=1.08, OR=2.95, 95% CI=1.32-6.59, P<0.05), low self-evaluation ( β=0.82, OR=2.27, 95% CI=1.12-4.59, P<0.05)and psychomotor retardation ( β=0.93, OR=2.54, 95% CI=1.33-4.85, P<0.05) were more likely to be diagnosed as AD, and depression patients having mood variation ( β=-0.94, OR=0.39, 95% CI=0.19-0.81, P<0.05) were more likely to be diagnosed as non-AD. Conclusion:Women, low self-evaluation, psychomotor retardation and unobvious mood variation can predict and help to diagnose atypical depression in depressed patients.