Objective: To evaluate the clinical characteristics of patients with depressive disorders at Department of Neurology in general hospitals.
Methods: A total of 596 consecutive patients with depressive symptoms, such as insomnia, or somatic symptoms were collected prospectively and those who were unable to answer the questionnaire were excluded. Data of demography and clinical characteristics were obtained from a questionnaire. The 17-item Hamilton depression rating scale (HDRS17) was used to identify the presence of depressive disorders. Case control method was employed to evaluate the clinical characteristics of patients with depressive disorders.
Results: Among all patients, 347 were diagnosed as depressive disorders (58.1%). The mean score of HDRS17 was 21.9 ± 3.4. Fewer psychological symptoms were complained by patients with depressive disorder. The depressive mood was found in 146 (41.2%), a loss of interest or pleasure 161 (46.4%)and depressive mood plus a loss of interest or pleasure 108 (31.3%). The factors of manual worker, lower education level, worse marital status, lower economic status, irregular lifestyle and coexisting medical conditions were associated with depressive disorders. The most frequent complaints of somatic symptoms were as follows: hard to fall asleep 254 (73.2%), early awakening 218 (76.0%), poor memory 219 (63.1%), fatigue 181 (52.2%), palpitation 179 (51.6%), dizziness 170 (49.0%), headache 160 (46.1%) and dyspnea 140 (40.3%). The mean number of somatic symptoms was 6.87 ± 2.78. The patients complaining of multiple somatic symptoms (≥ 4) was 322 (92.8%). The number of somatic symptoms was correlated with depressive disorders.
Conclusions: More minor depression and somatic symptoms are the main characteristics of patients with depressive disorder in general hospitals.