Medical comorbidities in patients with recurrent depressive disorder

Abstract

Objective

The course and outcome of depression could be influenced by several clinical characteristics, medical comorbidity being one of them. Our main purpose was to identify the medical comorbidities in depressive clinical population and to compare them with the figures encountered in other diagnostic categories.

Material and method

We performed a retrospective study on 248 subjects (studied sample) admitted in our Clinic during 2001 – 2004 with a diagnosis of Recurrent depressive disorder, accordingly with ICD-10. There were collected several demographic and clinical data. Also, it was done two comparable control samples, one with persistent delusional disorder (N=60) and the other with Bipolar disorder (N=44). All data were statistical analyzed.

Results

In our studied sample, we found a highly statistical significant difference regarding cardiovascular diseases (p<0.001), digestive (p<0.001) and musculoskeletal disease (p<0.001), depending on the time elapsed form the onset of depression. Interestingly, only the digestive diseases were not correlated with the age. Also, comparatively with control samples there was a statistical significant difference regarding cardiovascular diseases (the figures were influenced by age and gender in sense that male aged subjects were more affected). The endocrine diseases were more prevalent in Bipolar sample while in Persistent delusional sample we found more nephrological and urological diseases.

Conclusion

We consider that depressive population is more vulnerable to develop medical comorbidities. In consequence, the clinicians must pay more attention on physical health status in depressive patients and to take into account it in therapeutically management of these patients.