Analysis of Influencing Factors of Major Depression After Spinal Cord Injury

Objective: To analyze the risk factors of major depressive disorder (MDD) after spinal cord injury (SCI).

Methods: Patients with SCI in our hospital from February 2020 to February 2023 were selected as the study objects. According to the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) score, patients with 36~75 points were included in the major depression group, and 0~35 points were included in the non-major depression group. The general sociological characteristics (age, gender, educational level, place of residence, family economic status, payment method of medical expenses, marital status) and disease-related characteristics (course of disease, cause of injury, neurological level of injury, type of injury, degree of pain) of all patients were collected, and the items with differences were selected for logistic regression analysis to analyze the risk factors for major depression in patients with spinal cord injury.

Results: Totally 216 patients were enrolled in our study, including 45 patients (18.98%) had moderate-to-severe depression and 175 patients (81.02%) had non-severe depression. Univariate analysis showed that gender (χ2 = 11.865, P < .001), course of disease (χ2 = 12.967, P < .001), family economic status (χ2 = 8.610, P = .003), educational level (χ2 =15.287, P < .001), neurological level of injury (χ2 = 9.013, P = .003) and pain level (χ2 = 16.673, P < .001) were statistically significant differences between the 2 groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that gender [odds ratio (OR) (95 % CI)=3.986 (1.743~9.116), P = .001], course of disease [OR (95 % CI)=4.033 (1.818~8.947), P = .001], family economic status [OR (95 % CI)=3.136 (1.449~6.785), P = .004], educational level [OR (95 % CI)=4.332 (1.998~9.388), P = .000], neurological level of injury [OR (95 % CI)=2.848 (1.414~5.734), P = .003], and pain level [OR (95 % CI)=5.767 (2.309~14.404), P < .001] were risk factors for major depressive disorder in SCI patients.

Conclusion: Gender, disease duration, family economic status, education level, level of nerve injury, and pain level may be the independent risk factors of MDD incidence in patients with spinal cord injury.

Cite this article as: Tang Z, Yu X. Analysis of influencing factors of major depression after spinal cord injury. Alpha Psychiatry. 2024;25(3):395-400.