Quality of life, disability, and residual depressive symptoms in older remitted and partly remitted patients with major depressive disorder

Objective: To determine associations between remission status, residual symptoms, quality of life (QoL) sub-domains and disability and to examine predictive role of specific residual symptoms on disability and QoL in elderly patients (age≥60) with depression. Methods: One hundred and sixty patients who had initially been diagnosed with MDD, were randomized into two groups (partly remitted (PRD) vs remitted (RD). By using the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), PRD was defined as a score between 8 and 18 and RD as a score of ≤7. Residual symptoms were assessed using the HAM-D. QoL and disability were measured using SF-36 and WHODAS 2.0, respectively. Results: Among the PRD, 94.2% of them were experiencing at least one residual symptom (HAM-D symptom subscore≥1). Among the RD, 48.2% of them were experiencing at least one residual symptom. Most of the SF-36 subscores were substantially higher in subjects with RD than in PRD subjects. There were significant correlations between QoL, disability and specific residual symptoms. In the Beta regression analyses, there were different and specific residual symptoms and clinical risk factors for each SF-36 domain. Conclusions: Residual symptoms are found common in both partial and full remitters in older patients with MDD and were significantly associated with disability and QoL in older depressive patients. Given the negative impact of residual symptoms and partial remission status on functionality and QoL, more attention needs to treat effectively depressive episodes. [Anadolu Psikiyatri Derg 2020; 21(1.000): 45-52]